Richmond-Steveston

Richmond-Steveston occupies the southwestern corner of Richmond, blending the heritage character of Steveston Village — with its historic fishing wharf, cannery sites, and the largest small-craft harbour in Canada — with the newer residential developments of Ironwood, Gilmore, and Thompson farther inland. The riding's proximity to Garry Point Park and the Steveston boardwalk gives it a distinct small-town identity within the broader suburban fabric of Richmond, and its economy has long been tied to commercial fishing, tourism, and the small businesses lining Steveston's waterfront strip.

The BC Liberals had held the riding in every election since its creation in 1991, though the margin of victory had narrowed steadily in recent cycles. The 2017 result was the closest in the riding's history, and with the incumbent retiring ahead of the 2020 election, the open seat was widely seen as a top NDP pickup opportunity in a city that had not elected a New Democrat provincially in decades.

Candidates

Kelly Greene (BC NDP) — A lifelong Richmond resident who grew up in Steveston and attended Hugh Boyd Secondary School, Greene held a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Business Administration from Pennsylvania State University, along with a graduate certificate in Business Sustainability Strategy. After working for multinational banking and accounting firms, she became politically active in 2016 by co-founding Richmond Schools Stand United, a parent advocacy group fighting school closures in Richmond. Elected to Richmond City Council in 2018, she used her council seat to champion farmland preservation and environmental protection before stepping down to contest the provincial election.

Matt Pitcairn (BC Liberal Party) — Raised in Steveston, Pitcairn served as president and chief executive officer of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, stepping down from the role to accept the Liberal nomination. He was a past president of the Richmond City Centre Community Association, treasurer of the Steveston Historical Society, and a director of the Richmond Caring Place Society, giving him deep roots in the riding's civic organizations.

Vince Li ran as an Independent candidate and received a small share of the vote.

Local Issues

The future of the George Massey Tunnel was the most contentious infrastructure question in Richmond-Steveston. The NDP government had cancelled the previous Liberal government's ten-lane bridge replacement project in 2017 and convened an independent review. By 2019, a Metro Vancouver Mayors' Council task force recommended an eight-lane immersed tunnel as the preferred replacement, and the City of Richmond had been vocal in opposing the original bridge plan, citing concerns about the scale of the Steveston interchange expansion it would have required. However, by the time of the 2020 election, no construction timeline had been confirmed, and daily commuters who used the crossing to reach Delta and points south grew increasingly frustrated with congestion delays and the uncertainty surrounding the project's future.

The NDP government's 2018 decision to adopt the City of Richmond's Market Rental Housing Policy — which sought to protect the existing supply of market rental units at the time of redevelopment and encourage new purpose-built rental construction — was felt directly in the riding. Several older rental buildings in the Ironwood and Gilmore neighbourhoods faced redevelopment proposals during the 2017-2020 term, raising concerns among tenants about displacement. The NDP's Rental Housing Task Force, which reported in late 2018 with recommendations to strengthen tenant protections, led to changes in the Residential Tenancy Act that limited annual rent increases to inflation and ended the practice of allowing landlords to raise rents by an additional two per cent above the consumer price index.

The pandemic's effect on small businesses along the Steveston Village commercial strip weighed heavily on voters heading into the October vote. Restaurants, tourism operators, and the independent seafood vendors at Fisherman's Wharf — the largest small craft harbour in Canada, home to more than five hundred commercial fishing vessels — had been hit hard by public health restrictions and the collapse of tourism traffic during the spring and summer of 2020. Candidates debated the adequacy of the NDP's emergency business relief programs, including the Small and Medium Sized Business Recovery Grant announced in September 2020, and whether the supports reached the self-employed fishers and seasonal operators who formed the backbone of Steveston's economy.

Environmental stewardship of the Fraser River estuary remained a persistent concern for a community whose identity was rooted in commercial fishing. Declining Fraser River sockeye salmon returns — the 2019 run was among the weakest on record — prompted calls from both fishing industry representatives and environmental groups for stronger habitat protections. The NDP government's CleanBC climate plan, released in December 2018, set emissions reduction targets that resonated with environmentally conscious voters in the riding, but fishers and agricultural operators along the riding's southern boundary pressed for more direct action on water quality and riparian habitat restoration.