West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country (formerly West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast) is a federal

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, that has been represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

since 1997.

Geography

The district includes the regional districts of Sunshine Coast, the southern portion of the Squamish–Lillooet Regional District, including the municipalities of Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton; and

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is situated on the north shore of Burrard Inlet to the northwest of the city ...

Lions Bay Lions Bay (, ) is a small residential community in British Columbia, Canada, located between Vancouver and Squamish on the steep eastern shore of Howe Sound. In the 2021 census the community had a population of 1,390, BC's 36th smallest municipal ...

and

Bowen Island Bowen Island (; ), British Columbia, is an island municipality that is part of Metro Vancouver, and within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust. Located in Howe Sound, it is approximately wide by long, and at its closest point is about w ...

, which are in the

Metro Vancouver Regional District The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 2 ...

Demographics

:''According to the

2016 Canadian census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

; 2013 representationSource

/ref>'' Languages: 76.9% English, 4.4% Mandarin, 3.8% Persian, 2.4% French, 1.9% German, 1.0% Punjabi,
Religions (2011): 42.4% Christian (13.3% Catholic, 8.6% Anglican, 6.8% United Church, 1.6% Baptist, 1.5% Lutheran, 1.1% Presbyterian, 9.5% Other), 3.3% Muslim, 1.3% Buddhist, 1.0% Jewish, 1.0% Sikh, 49.3% No religion
Median income (2015): $35,774
Average income (2015): $65,168

History

The electoral district was created as "West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast" in 1996 from parts of

Capilano—Howe Sound Capilano—Howe Sound was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Capilano and Cariboo—Chilcotin ridi ...

and

North Island—Powell River North Island—Powell River is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1997, and again since 2015. This riding was created in 1987 from parts of Comox—Pow ...

ridings. In 2003, it was renamed "West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country". At 48 characters, this was the current longest riding name in Canada until 2015, when it was overtaken by the renamed, 49-character Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. The riding or electoral district is also the first to have been represented in Parliament by a member of the Green Party, Blair Wilson. Elected as part of the Liberal party, he crossed the floor later in his career to become a member of the Green Party representing West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country. However, this came immediately before the 2008 federal election, in which he was defeated, and he never had the opportunity to sit in the House as a Green MP. The 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution concluded that the electoral boundaries of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country should be adjusted, and a modified electoral district of the same name would be contested in future elections. The redefined West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country: *loses the Powell River Regional District to the district of

; *regains the community of Pemberton and area that had been transferred from it to

Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon was a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Geography The district includes the City of Chilliwack, the District ...

in the previous redistribution; and *sees its boundary with North Vancouver adjusted to correspond to the boundaries between the District of North Vancouver,

and the Capilano Indian Reserve. These new boundaries were legally defined in the 2013 representation order, which came into effect upon the call of the

42nd Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election was held on October 19, 2015, to elect the 338 members of the House of Commons of the 42nd Parliament of Canada. In accordance with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Election ...

, scheduled for October 2015. During the 2022 redistribution the area south of the Trans-Canada Highway and east of 21 St, was cut out of the riding and added to North Vancouver—Capilano. This included

Park Royal Shopping Centre Park Royal Shopping Centre, also known as simply Park Royal, opened in 1950, is a shopping mall located in West Vancouver and X̱wemelch'stn, British Columbia, Canada. Park Royal was Canada's first covered shopping mall. Park Royal has seen multipl ...

, Sentinel Hill and all of

Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...

. The boundary change was criticized by some, including Patrick Weiler, the Member of Parliament for the riding.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:

Current member of Parliament

Patrick Weiler is the current member of Parliament for this riding. He was elected after the incumbent, Pamela Goldsmith-Jones chose not to run for re-election in the 2019 federal election. He was re-elected in the 2021 federal election and again in the 2025 federal election.

Former members of Parliament

The first member of Parliament to represent the riding was John Reynolds, who previously served as the Progressive Conservative MP for Burnaby—Richmond—Delta from 1972 to 1977 and

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

MLA for West Vancouver-Howe Sound from 1983 to 1991. He was first elected in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast in the 1997 election. He was a member of the Reform Party, and its successors the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...

and the Conservative Party. After

Stockwell Day Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (born August 16, 1950) is a former Canadian politician who served as leader of the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2001 and later as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. A provincial cabinet minister from Alber ...

was pushed out as leader of the

, Reynolds served as interim leader and Leader of the Official Opposition. He served as a member on the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. Reynolds did not run in the 2006 general election.

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Blair Wilson was elected in the 2006 federal election. Wilson, a chartered accountant and a former restaurant owner, was the first Liberal MP for the historically Conservative riding. He had previously run in the 2004 federal election and lost to John Reynolds. Wilson resigned from caucus in October 2007 after allegations of improper campaign spending and failure to mention several legal and financial troubles during three nomination vetting processes. He remained a Liberal but not in caucus. In January 2008, Wilson became an Independent. He then joined the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

on August 30, 2008, becoming its first MP. Running under the Green banner in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

called only days later. John Weston of the Conservative Party defeated Wilson in the 2008 federal election. He was re-elected in the 2011 federal election by a comfortable margin. He lost re-election in 2015. Weston attempted to make a comeback in the 2021 federal election, but lost to incumbent Patrick Weiler. Former Mayor of

, Pamela Goldsmith-Jones of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, unseated John Weston in the 2015 federal election by a wide margin. She served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of International Trade Diversification The Minister of International Trade () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for the federal government's international trade portfolio. Along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, it is ...

. In the 2019 federal election, Goldsmith-Jones did not run for re-election.

Election results

West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country

West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast

Notes

References

Sources

*
Library of Parliament Riding Profile (1996–2003)

Library of Parliament Riding Profile (2003–present)

Expenditures – 2004

Expenditures – 2000

Expenditures – 1997

External links

Parliament of Canada

Politwitter

Project Democracy

Pundit's Guide

StatsCan District Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country British Columbia federal electoral districts Federal electoral districts in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Bowen Island Lions Bay Powell River, British Columbia Squamish, British Columbia Politics of West Vancouver Whistler, British Columbia