Abitibi—Témiscamingue (Quebec) 3/338

 Abitibi—Témiscamingue (Quebec)

Our third riding of our trip isn't too far from the last, Abitibi—Témiscamingue!

 

Abitibi—Témiscamingue has been in place as a riding in its current form since 2013, losing a small territory to Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou in the 2012 redistribution. It is anchored by population centers in Rouyn-Noranda (42,334 as of the 2016 Census), Amos (17,090 as of the 2011 Census), and La Sarre (7,719 as of the 2011 Census). 

Politically, it has had pretty diverse representation, having been represented by every major party in Quebec in the past 25 years, the shortest term being by the Liberals for one year as the result of a by-election after the passing of Bloc MP Pierre Brien. The riding is currently represented by Bloc Quebecois MP Sébastien Lemire.

This riding is hard to pin down by its diverse federal representation. Despite its diverse representation, elections are not close. The last time this riding (or at least the equivalent of it) had less than a 10 point margin was in 1988. In 2019, it was 45/78 in Quebec and 198/338 in Canada in terms of closeness.

Rating:

Name: 7.8/10 - The name is good, but I wish it was named after a different municipality, given Témiscaming has a population of 2,431 (2016 Census)

Shape: 6.7/10 - It's fine, I just hope they reshape it a bit to make it a cleaner edge with Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou next time they redistrict. 

Individuality: 6.3/10 -  In terms of rural Quebec ridings, it's pretty par for the course, the interesting part is the political elasticity.

Total: 20.8/30 (69.3%)

We're heading southeast to New Brunswick tomorrow with Acadie-Bathurst!