Richmond-Steveston

Richmond-Steveston lies at the southwestern tip of Lulu Island, where the south arm of the Fraser River meets the Strait of Georgia. The riding takes in the waterfront village of Steveston — one of the oldest fishing communities on Canada's Pacific coast — along with the residential neighbourhoods of Ironwood, Gilmore, and the developing Steveston Highway corridor. Steveston's historic cannery district and Fisherman's Wharf anchor the local economy alongside small-business retail, while newer subdivisions farther inland have drawn young families and commuters who travel to central Richmond or Vancouver for work.

The NDP flipped the riding from the BC Liberals in 2020 after decades of centre-right dominance. The 2024 redistribution left the boundaries largely unchanged, and the contest unfolded against a dramatically reshaped opposition landscape: BC United (the renamed Liberals) suspended its campaign in late August 2024 and urged supporters to back the Conservatives, sending shockwaves through Richmond. Jackie Lee, the former BC United nominee for the riding, chose to run as an independent rather than step aside.

Candidates

Kelly Greene (BC NDP) — Greene had represented Richmond-Steveston since winning the seat in 2020 and subsequently served as Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture. A lifelong Richmond resident who attended Hugh Boyd Secondary, she earned her undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia and later completed an MBA with honours at Pennsylvania State University, complemented by a graduate certificate in Business Sustainability Strategy. She sat on Richmond City Council from 2018 to 2020 and co-founded Richmond Schools Stand United, a parent-led organization that fought proposed school closures in the district.

Michelle Mollineaux (Conservative Party) — Mollineaux brought more than twenty-five years of experience in marketing and business development in the high-tech, energy, and commodities sectors. She worked at Richmond-based ZEMA Global Data Corporation and had spent eight years mentoring Grade 12 students at McMath Secondary School, many of whom returned as summer interns during university.

Jackie Lee (Independent) — Lee had been the BC United candidate for Richmond-Steveston before the party suspended its campaign. A Richmond resident with a business background, he chose to continue his candidacy as an independent after BC United withdrew, arguing that voters deserved the choice.

Elodie Vaudandaine (BC Green Party) — Vaudandaine was a student pursuing a dual bachelor's degree between the Paris Institute of Political Studies and the University of British Columbia, studying political science and sociology. She had been involved in climate justice activism, including advocacy for old-growth forest protection.

Local Issues

The George Massey Tunnel replacement project remained the riding's most consequential infrastructure issue heading into the 2024 election. After the NDP government cancelled the previous Liberal government's ten-lane bridge plan in 2017, it spent years developing an alternative. By 2024, the province had committed to an eight-lane immersed tube tunnel at an estimated cost of approximately $4.15 billion, and in July 2024, the government selected Cross Fraser Partnership as the design team. Construction of the new Steveston Interchange — located within the riding — was underway and on track for completion in 2025, bringing lane closures and traffic disruption to residents along Highway 99 and Steveston Highway. Commuters who used the crossing daily weighed the promise of eventual congestion relief against years of construction ahead.

Housing affordability had intensified across Richmond since 2020. The NDP government's speculation and vacancy tax, foreign buyers tax, and rental protection measures had moderated some speculative activity, but home prices in Steveston and the surrounding neighbourhoods remained among the highest in Metro Vancouver. Rental vacancy rates hovered near historic lows, and residents in older rental buildings in the Ironwood area continued to face redevelopment pressure. The collapse of BC United and the rise of the Conservative Party of BC introduced a new dynamic to the affordability debate, as the Conservatives proposed eliminating the speculation tax and loosening some regulatory constraints on housing supply.

The riding's commercial fishing heritage faced ongoing uncertainty as Fraser River salmon stocks continued to decline. Federal restrictions on commercial and recreational fishing had squeezed the livelihoods of families tied to the Steveston fleet, and the NDP government's role in habitat restoration and environmental stewardship along the Fraser estuary was debated at candidates' forums. The state of the fishing industry intersected with broader concerns about the environmental impact of port expansion and industrial activity along the river's south arm.