Abbotsford South Explained

Province:British Columbia
Prov-Status:active
Prov-Created:2008
Prov-Election-First:2009
Prov-Election-Last:2024
Prov-Rep:Bruce Banman
Prov-Rep-Party:Conservative
Demo-Census-Date:2021
Demo-Pop:60624
Demo-Area:174
Demo-Cd:Fraser Valley Regional District
Demo-Csd:Abbotsford[1]

Abbotsford South is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, established by the Electoral Districts Act, 2008. It came into effect in the 2009 provincial general election.

Geography

The electoral district comprises the part of the City of Abbotsford (including its city centre, Barrowtown, Poplar and Aberdeen) lying to the east and south of the following line: commencing at Bradner Road and the Canada–United States border, north along said road to Highway 1, thence southeast along said highway to Fishtrap Creek, thence northeast along said creek to Old Yale Road, thence east along said road to Marshall Road, thence north along said road to Whatcom Road, thence north along said road to McKee Road, thence east along said road to Sumas Mountain Road, thence south along said road back to Highway 1, thence northeast along said highway to the eastern limit of said city.[1]

History

This riding has been represented by the following members of the Legislative Assembly:

Member of the Legislative Assembly

On account of the realignment of electoral boundaries, most incumbents did not represent the entirety of their listed district during the preceding legislative term. John van Dongen, British Columbia Liberal Party was initially elected during a 1995 election to the Abbotsford-Clayburn riding and has represented them until 2013. He unsuccessfully ran for re-election in the newly created riding of Abbotsford South and lost to Darryl Plecas.

Starting in 2012, the riding has established a unique trend of MLAs switching political parties between elections, with John van Dongen, Darryl Plecas, and Bruce Banman all leaving the Liberal Party (now BC United) and either sitting as independents or joining the Conservative Party. Van Dongen lost re-election after leaving the Conservatives in turn, while Plecas did not stand for re-election.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Iyer . Nitya . April 3, 2023 . Redistribution Final Report . October 5, 2024 . British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission.