Coquitlam-Maillardville

Coquitlam-Maillardville encompasses the established residential core of Coquitlam, anchored by the historic Francophone neighbourhood of Maillardville — one of the oldest French-Canadian communities west of Manitoba, founded by sawmill workers from Quebec and Ontario in 1909. The riding's character is shaped by its mature tree-lined streets, older apartment buildings, the Austin Heights commercial district, and a diverse population with deep roots in the community. Unlike the newer subdivisions climbing Burke Mountain next door, this riding is defined by its multi-generational character, its significant renter population, and its proximity to the Lougheed Highway corridor and the Evergreen Extension of SkyTrain that links the Tri-Cities to Metro Vancouver's rapid transit network.

Outgoing NDP MLA Selina Robinson — who had held the seat since 2013 and resigned from the NDP caucus in February 2024 — chose not to seek re-election, and the party nominated school board trustee Jennifer Blatherwick as her successor. Blatherwick faced Conservative candidate Hamed Najafi, Green candidate Nicola Spurling, and independent Ken Holowanky in a four-way contest in a riding that had been redrawn to absorb portions of neighbouring constituencies during the 2023 redistribution.

Candidates

Jennifer Blatherwick (BC NDP) — Blatherwick served two terms as a school board trustee in Coquitlam's School District 43 and worked as the executive director of a not-for-profit organization serving at-risk youth. She raised five children in Coquitlam and campaigned on expanding affordable housing, strengthening healthcare access, and building on the NDP government's partnership with SUCCESS and the City of Coquitlam to construct affordable seniors' housing adjacent to the Maillardville Community Centre.

Hamed Najafi (Conservative Party of BC) — Najafi brought a background in electronics engineering, technical sales, and customer service to his candidacy and had lived in Coquitlam for more than twenty years. He worked in the real estate industry and campaigned on housing affordability, expanded childcare, and mental health accountability, arguing that the cost of living had outpaced the NDP government's policy responses.

Nicola Spurling (BC Green Party) — Spurling was a small business owner and longtime community advocate who had contested the Coquitlam-Maillardville seat for the Greens in both 2017 and 2020, making this her third provincial campaign. Trained in construction economics with experience in project management and business development, she founded Tri-Cities Pride and was instrumental in the successful campaign to add gender identity and gender expression protections to both provincial and federal human rights legislation. Her platform centred on housing affordability, climate action, and social justice.

Independent candidate Ken Holowanky also contested the riding.

Local Issues

Housing affordability and the availability of rental accommodation dominated the political conversation in Coquitlam-Maillardville throughout the 2020–2024 term. The riding's significant renter population — concentrated in the aging apartment stock along the Lougheed Highway corridor and in the Austin Heights area — faced escalating costs as Metro Vancouver's housing crunch pushed demand into the Tri-Cities. The NDP government's legislation to limit annual rent increases to inflation, combined with investments in purpose-built rental housing and the BC Builds program, were presented as responses to the crisis, but tenants and advocacy groups argued that protections did not go far enough to prevent displacement through renovictions and demovictions as older buildings were redeveloped. The Conservatives countered that excessive regulation was discouraging new construction and that streamlining approvals would be more effective.

Access to primary healthcare remained a significant concern for residents in a riding where many people lacked a family physician. Walk-in clinics in the area faced long wait times, and the NDP government's investment in urgent and primary care centres across Metro Vancouver had not fully resolved the underlying shortage of general practitioners. Candidates debated the merits of the NDP's team-based care model — which emphasized nurse practitioners and allied health professionals working alongside physicians — versus the Conservative emphasis on physician compensation reform and incentives to attract more doctors to practice in the province.

The riding's proximity to SkyTrain and the Lougheed Highway corridor made transit-oriented development a defining planning issue. As the provincial government pushed municipalities to permit greater density near transit stations, residents in established neighbourhoods around the Burquitlam and Lougheed Town Centre stations grappled with the pace of change as mid-rise and high-rise developments replaced older single-family homes and low-rise apartments. The tension between the need for more housing and the desire to preserve neighbourhood character played out at council meetings and all-candidates forums, with candidates offering different visions of how densification should proceed.

Childcare availability was a recurring concern for families in a riding where many households relied on two incomes. The NDP government's $10-a-day childcare program had expanded the number of subsidized spaces across the province, but demand in the Tri-Cities continued to outstrip supply, and waitlists for licensed daycare remained long. Blatherwick's background in children's services and Najafi's emphasis on childcare expansion reflected the centrality of the issue in a constituency with a high proportion of young families.