Battle River—Crowfoot (Alberta) 16/338

Battle River—Crowfoot (Alberta)

Today we're back in rural Alberta with Battle River—Crowfoot!

Battle River—Crowfoot has existed since the 2012 redistribution, getting created from Crowfoot and Vegreville-Wainwright. The largest municipalities are Camrose (18,742 in 2016), Drumheller (7,982 in 2016), and Wainwright (6,270 in 2016). The namesake Battle River runs through the riding. As for the Crowfoot, the riding is partially named after Chief Crowfoot of the Siksika First Nation.

Politically, this riding has always been very Conservative. In fact, the most Conservative, the Conservatives won in 2019 by a 80 point margin over the NDP who won 5% of the vote. The best performance of a left-of-center party was 15% for the Liberals in 1993 in the riding Vegreville. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Damien Kurek. (Fun Fact: He went to Trinity Western University in my hometown!)

In all the poll data available, the Liberals and NDP have never even won a poll. This riding was technically represented by a Liberal MP for two years when Conservative MP Jack Horner crossed the floor to join Pierre Trudeau's cabinet, first without a portfolio and then as the minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce. As you can assume, this wasn't popular amongst his constituents when he lost in the 1979 election by almost 20,000 votes. The riding was 34/34 in Alberta and 338/338 in Canada (!) by margin in 2019.

Rating:

Name: 5.7/10 - I understand why it wasn't named after a specific town, it is too rural to do that. And I do appreciate that it's named after an indigenous person, which I believe is the only one? I kinda wish it was named after a dinosaur though.

Shape: 3.8/10 - Do I need to say anything? The border with Saskatchewan helps it a little.

Individuality: 7.1/10 - I find it so cool how wide the margin is consistently. And the unconventional names are cool too. 

Total: 16.6/30 (55.3%)

Tomorrow we're heading one province over with Battlefords-Lloydminster!