Burnaby North—Seymour

Burnaby North—Seymour was a new riding created by the 2012 redistribution, joining the northern half of Burnaby with the eastern portion of North Vancouver across the waters of Burrard Inlet. The two communities have no direct road link, and critics argued the riding lacked geographic coherence. Nonetheless, it brought together suburban neighbourhoods on both sides of the inlet into a single constituency for the first time.

Candidates

Terry Beech (Liberal) — Beech first entered public life at age 18, winning a seat on Nanaimo city council as an independent in 1999. He later earned a bachelor's degree from Simon Fraser University, jointly majoring in business and economics, followed by an MBA from Oxford University. With his twin brother he co-founded the tech company HireTheWorld and the non-profit Twinbro Local Leaders, which helped students access scholarships and financial aid. He secured the Liberal nomination for the new riding.

Carol Baird Ellan (NDP) — A retired Provincial Court judge, Baird Ellan had been appointed Chief Judge of the British Columbia Provincial Court in 2000 at the age of 43, making her the first female chief judge in the court's history. She served in that role until 2005, then presided in North Vancouver Provincial Court until her retirement in 2012. She was recruited by the NDP as a star candidate.

Mike Little (Conservative) — A three-term district councillor in North Vancouver, Little lived on the Seymour side of the riding. He ran a grassroots, door-knocking-focused campaign.

Lynne Quarmby (Green Party) — An internationally recognized cell biologist, Quarmby chaired the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University. She was appointed the Green Party of Canada's science policy critic by leader Elizabeth May in January 2015. She had gained public prominence in 2014 after being arrested during protests against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion on Burnaby Mountain.

Chris Tylor (Libertarian), Helen Hee Soon Chang (Independent), Brent Jantzen (Communist), and Brian Sproule (Marxist-Leninist) also sought election.

About the Riding

The Burnaby portion of the riding encompasses neighbourhoods north of Lougheed Highway, including the Capitol Hill, Burnaby Heights, and Brentwood areas, home to a mix of single-family houses and rapidly densifying condo towers near the SkyTrain corridor. Across Burrard Inlet, the North Vancouver section includes the eastern District of North Vancouver and parts of the city, stretching from the Seymour River into the forested slopes of the North Shore Mountains. Simon Fraser University's main campus sits atop Burnaby Mountain within the riding. The Trans Mountain pipeline terminal at Westridge in Burnaby made pipeline expansion a defining local issue. The riding's diverse economy spans port operations, film production, retail, and a growing technology sector. Federal issues in 2015 included pipeline safety and tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet, housing affordability in Metro Vancouver, transit expansion, and environmental protection of the North Shore watershed.