B.C. Votes 2017: Maple Ridge-Mission riding profile

In advance of the 2017 B.C. election, we'll be profiling all 87 electoraldistricts in the province. Here is Maple Ridge-Mission, one of nine ridings in the Fraser Valley and one that took a decisive turn in the Liberals' favour four years ago.

Summary: A sprawling riding thatspans the two municipalities in its name, Maple Ridge-Missionis generally bordered by 224th Street to the west and the Cedar Valley Connector/Cedar Street to the east.

Politics: While the ridings in the Fraser Valley south of the river have overwhelmingly supported the B.C. Liberals and Social Credit party over the years, north of the Fraser has tended to be more of a swing region.

However, the Liberals have held this riding since 2001 though in 2005 and 2009, this was one of the closest ridings in the province, being decided by less than 200 votes.

Candidates: Marc Dalton is seeking a third term with the B.C. Liberals. The parliamentary secretary for Mtisrelations, Dalton sought the federal Conservative nomination in Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge in 2015but was unsuccessful.

The NDP candidate is Bob D'Eith, a musician and lawyer and the federal party's Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge candidate in the 2015 election.

The Green Party candidate is Peter Tam, a computer science engineer and former RCMP auxiliary constable.

Where does the NDP do well?It does best in the parts of Mission included in the riding, winning or tying in every single urban polling station last election. It also is competitive in theEastCentral Maple Ridge neighbourhood.

What about the Liberals? Theydobest in the more rural area between Mission and Maple Ridge's urban core, along with the community of Albion.