It’s been nearly 19 years since Peter Julian lost an election – and that was by 74 votes for a spot on New Westminster city council back in 2002.
(There was also that time he placed a distant fourth running for the NDP in the riding of Saint-François for the Quebec provincial election. But that was even further back, in 1989.)
Now the longtime New Democratic Party MP is gunning for his seventh straight term in Ottawa.
The long-rumoured federal election call came last weekend, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to request that she dissolve Parliament. Voters will return to the polls Sept. 20, less than two years after the last federal vote.
As of Friday, Aug. 20, the New Westminster-Burnaby riding now has four candidates in the race.
Julian is back for his seventh straight run at an MP’s chair. He's being challenged by Rozina Jaffer of the Liberal Party of Canada, David Macdonald of the Green Party of Canada and Paige Munro of the Conservative Party of Canada.
UPHILL BATTLE FOR JULIAN'S CHALLENGERS
The challengers will have an uphill battle ahead.
In his time contesting federal elections, Julian has seen only one legitimately close race. That was in June 2004, when he earned 33.72% of the vote to Liberal Mary Pynenburg’s 32.93%.
Julian opened up his lead over Pynenburg the next time the two faced off, in January 2006, when the NDP garnered 38.79% of the vote in the local riding to the Liberals’ 29.93%.
Since then, Julian has steadily garnered more than 40% of the vote. In the former Burnaby-New Westminster riding, his next-closest competitor was typically a Conservative candidate; since riding boundaries were redrawn for the October 2015 election, the Liberals have run second in New Westminster-Burnaby.
This story will be updated as other candidates declare.
PAST FEDERAL ELECTION RESULTS
Here's how the past six elections have unfolded locally:
43rd general election: October 2019
- Peter Julian, NDP: 44.2%
- Will Davis, Liberal: 23.4%
- Megan Veck, Conservative: 21.6%
- Suzanne de Montigny, Green: 8.3%
42nd general election: October 2015
- Peter Julian, NDP: 43.5%
- Sasha Ramnarine, Liberal: 29%
- Chloe Ellis, Conservative: 20%
- Kyle Routledge, Green: 4.7%
41st general election: May 2011 – Burnaby-New Westminster
- Peter Julian, NDP: 49.7%
- Paul Forseth, Conservative: 35.8%
- Garth Evans, Liberal: 10.1%
- Carrie McLaren, Green: 3.9%
40th general election: October 2008 – Burnaby-New Westminster
- Peter Julian, NDP: 46.49%
- Sam Rakhra, Conservative: 30.35%
- Gerry Lenoski, Liberal: 15.42%
- Carrie McLaren, Green: 7.07%
39th general election: January 2006 – Burnaby-New Westminster
- Peter Julian, NDP: 38.79%
- Mary Pynenburg, Liberal: 29.93%
- Marc Dalton, Conservative: 27.58%
- Scott Henry Janzen, Green: 3.68%
38th general election: June 2004 – Burnaby-New Westminster
- Peter Julian, NDP: 33.72%
- Mary Pynenburg, Liberal: 32.93%
- Mike Redmond, Conservative: 28.34%
- Revel Kunz, Green: 3.85%
source: Elections Canada
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected].
