Vancouver South

by The Georgia Straight Staff on September 5th, 2008 at 5:00 AM

Map of Vancouver South

Key demographic indicators (2006 census)

Population: 120,295
English as a mother tongue only: 34,620
Lived at the same address five years ago: 62,085
Number of immigrants: 71,740
Visible minority population: 89,595
Chinese descent: 51,940
South Asian descent: 17,990
Filipino descent: 7,865
Southeast Asian descent: 3,430
Aboriginal descent: 1,070
Latin American descent: 1,605
Median age: 39.6
Percentage of single detached houses: 29.5 %
Number of owned dwellings: 24,055
Number of rented dwellings: 17,695
Median income (2005 all families): $50,876
Median income (2005 married couples): $54,688
Median income (2005 common-law couples): $65,122
Median income (2005 lone-parent families): $35,301

Ujjal Dosanjh
Ann Chambers
Csaba Gulyas
Wai Young

The federal riding of Vancouver South extends from Granville Street to Boundary Road, and from 41st Avenue south to the Fraser River. It is Vancouver’s most multicultural riding, with almost 75 percent of the residents being members of visible minorities. There are also more than 70,000 immigrants living in Vancouver South.

Liberal foreign affairs critic Ujjal Dosanjh won Vancouver South handily in the 2004 and 2006 elections. Dosanjh, a former B.C. premier and former attorney general, will face community activist and NDP candidate Ann Chambers, as well as rookie Conservative candidate Wai Young, a small-business owner and director of multicultural services for the Association of Neighbourhood Houses.

Young is a stronger Conservative candidate in some respects than those who faced Dosanjh in the past. She has been active with numerous community organizations, including SUCCESS. If the Liberal fortunes fall across the country, it’s conceivable that this race could be a lot closer than the last two for Dosanjh, particularly if the NDP and Greens siphon off more progressive votes than they have in the past.

NDP candidate Ann Chambers has been a health worker as well as member of the B.C. Health Coalition, which strongly supports publicly funded and operated health care. She has also acted in different capacities with the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, including as a provincial executive officer.

Green candidate Csaba Gulyas is a Hungarian immigrant and an information-technology and audiovisual consultant.

Conservative John Fraser held the seat through six elections in the 1970s and 1980s, but the demographics have changed so dramatically since then that this isn’t necessarily an indication that the riding will go Conservative in 2008.

The Conservatives’ recent immigration legislation could create problems for the party, given the large number of immigrant voters in Vancouver South. However, the Conservatives could offset that with a tough law-and-order message, which might play well with new Canadian voters.