Federal incumbents hold onto Vancouver seats, Conservatives gain ground in the suburbs

The Liberals and NDP held onto some key seats in Metro Vancouver on election night, while the Conservatives swept the Fraser Valley, taking back some seats lost four years ago.

The political map for the Lower Mainland turned out to be a colourful one, with blobs of orange, red and blue, plus just a hint of grey in Vancouver Granville, where former cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould held onto her seat as an independent.

Overall, there were fewer changes on election night in the Lower Mainland than many other places in Canada: In 20 of 26 electoral districts, the incumbent party — or candidate, in the case of Wilson-Raybould — were leading or elected, with a few close races going late into the night.

There were, however, a few suburban areas where voters decided to switch back to the Conservative Party, following a 2015 election where the Liberals won ridings in which they historically weren't competitive.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh kept his seat in Burnaby South, while incumbent New Democrats Jenny Kwan, Don Davies and Peter Julian held onto theirs in the party's strongholds of Vancouver East, Vancouver Kingsway and New Westminster-Burnaby. 

The Liberals kept their seats in Vancouver Centre, Vancouver Quadra, Vancouver South, North Vancouver, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, Burnaby North-Seymour, Delta, Surrey Centre, Surrey-Newton,  Fleetwood-Port Kells and Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam.

Conservative incumbent Alice Wong won the riding of Richmond Centre, while the Tories stole seats from the Liberals in South Surrey-White Rock, Cloverdale-Langley City and Steveston-Richmond East, and from the NDP in Port Moody-Coquitlam.

South Surrey-White Rock's Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who will be returning to Ottawa as a Conservative MP after a four-year absence, told CBC she's optimistic despite being in opposition for the first time.

"I know how to navigate in Ottawa. I know how to speak up for B.C. and the Lower Mainland," she said. "It's important that the people who go to Ottawa from as far away as we live, that they go with passion and energy."

Wilson-Raybould, at one time the Liberal justice minister, won Vancouver Granville after a tight three-way race with her opponents in the Liberal and Conservative parties.

Conservatives sweep through Fraser Valley

Further east in the Fraser Valley, incumbent Conservatives were returned in Abbotsford, Langley-Aldergrove and Chilliwack-Hope.

The party also picked up seats from the Liberals in Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon and Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge.

Nationwide, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau held on to just enough seats in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario to secure a minority government after a tight campaign that saw the two leading parties struggle to break out of the pack.

While final ballots are still being counted in several ridings, the Liberals are expected to win 156 seats and form a minority government.

With no single party holding a majority of votes in the House of Commons, longtime Vancouver Centre Liberal Hedy Fry said co-operation will be key for her party.

"We as Liberals have to be able to work with others who share our values and, of course, those values could be things like health care, mental health, addictions as a public health issue, housing, helping the middle class and helping get children out of poverty," she told CBC.

"If we can find people who share those values, we're prepared to work with anyone."

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