Vancouver-Kingsway, much like the provincial riding Vancouver-Kingsway, has a long history of electing NDP candidates.
Here’s who’s running in Vancouver-Kingsway.
The NDP has won 12 of the 18 elections held since the riding was formed in 1953, although voters once re-elected a Liberal, David Emerson, who promptly crossed the floor to become a Tory cabinet minister. More than half the population of the riding are immigrants, and Vancouver-Kingsway has the distinction of being home to the most Buddhists per capita of any riding in Canada.
The riding has been represented by the NDP’s Don Davies since 2008 and includes the Renfrew Heights and Collingwood neighbourhoods, along with major north-south arterials such as Victoria, Knight, Fraser and Main streets.
Here's who's running:
Conservative
Helen Quan
Helen Quan immigrated to Canada from Taiwan more than 40 years ago and speaks three languages fluently. A single mother of two, Quan started her first business in 1983 while studying at McGill University. From 1983 to 1993, she was the owner and general manager of Le Wok International Restaurant Group. Quan moved to Vancouver in 1993 and now runs a consultancy that helps new immigrants establish businesses. Her charitable efforts include stints with the St. John’s Ambulance, RCMP Multi-Cultural Advisory Committee, Richmond Sister City Advisory Committee, Richmond Mandarin Lions Club and Scouts Canada. Quan is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award.
Helen Quan immigrated to Canada from Taiwan more than 40 years ago and speaks three languages fluently. Photo courtesy of Helen Quan campaign
Communist Party
Kimball Cariou
Kimball Cariou has run provincially and federally dating back to the 1990s, though he’s never received even one per cent of the vote in any election. He garnered 445 votes in the 2015 federal election, the second-lowest total of the seven candidates in the riding. Cariou was born in Saskatoon and moved to Vancouver in 1993. He joined the Communist Parry in 1972 and is the editor of a publication called “People’s Voice.” Cariou is a long-time supporter of movements for trade unions and Indigenous rights.
Kimball Cariou has run provincially and federally dating back to the 1990s, though he’s never received even one per cent of the vote in any election. Photo courtesy of Kimball Cariou campaign
Green Party
Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor is a cross country skiing official, works in health science regulation and is a caretaker for a peer-led meditation group in East Vancouver. He also shares a name with one the greatest linebackers in NFL history. Climate change is the big talking point in Taylor’s platform, along with changing the tone of political discourse. Taylor holds degrees from both Simon Fraser University and Western University and focuses his fiscal policies around working towards a post-carbon, post-resource extraction economy.
Lawrence Taylor is a cross country skiing official, works in health science regulation and is a caretaker for a peer-led meditation group in East Vancouver. Photo courtesy of Lawrence Taylor campaign
Liberal
Tamara Taggart
Tamara Taggart’s first foray into politics comes after a nearly three-decade career in television, radio and digital media. She’s an Order of B.C. recipient and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of the Fraser Valley. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked off the campaign alongside Taggart at the Italian Cultural Centre in mid-September, when she cited climate change, housing and affordability as the main talking points in her riding. Taggart is married to 54/40 guitarist David Genn and has three children.
Tamara Taggart’s first foray into politics comes after a nearly three-decade career in television, radio and digital media. Photo courtesy Tamara Taggart campaign
Marxist-Leninist Party
Donna Petersen
Donna Petersen has run either provincially or federally since the early 2000s but has failed to garner even one per cent of the vote in each attempt. Petersen was born in Vancouver and is an education worker and activist. Petersen made headlines in 2005 during the teachers’ strike after preventing buses from leaving the Burnaby Transit Centre while she picketed.
Donna Petersen has run either provincially or federally since the early 2000s but has failed to garner even one per cent of the vote in each attempt. Photo courtesy of Donna Petersen campaign
NDP (incumbent)
Don Davies
What Hedy Fry is to Vancouver Centre, Don Davies is to Vancouver Kingsway. He’s been the riding’s MP since 2008 and comfortably won the 2015 race by 8,000 votes. Davies’ most recent post was as the NDP’s health critic. Prior to that he served as Official Opposition Critic for International Trade, Citizenship and Immigration and Multiculturalism, and Public Safety and National Security. Davies worked as a lawyer, labour representative and policy advisor prior to his entry in public life. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a degree in law.
Don Davies has been the riding’s MP since 2008 and comfortably won the 2015 race by 8,000 votes. Photo courtesy of Don Davies
People’s Party
Ian Torn
Ian Torn is an Alberta transplant who moved to B.C. in 2006. He’s a graduate of the Art Institutes and works in the gaming industry. He cites the following as pillars of his campaign: a stable democracy, a safe and secure nation, freedom of speech and freedom of religion, a sense of unity and community, a better quality of life.
Ian Torn is an Alberta transplant who moved to B.C. in 2006. He’s a graduate of the Art Institutes and works in the gaming industry. Photo courtesy Ian Torn campaign
