Battlefords—Lloydminster (Saskatchewan) 17/338

Battlefords—Lloydminster (Saskatchewan) 

Today we're in a new province, Saskatchewan!

Battlefords-Lloydminster was created in 1996 from Kindersley-Lloydminster and The Battlefords-Meadow Lake. The largest municipalities are North Battleford (13,188 in 2011), Battleford (4,065 in 2011), and the Saskatchewan portion of Lloydminster (11,765 in 2016). There are also quite a few indigenous nations on this land, namely Seekaskootch, Sweet Grass, and Red Pheasant.

Politically, this riding isn't as moderate as it used to be. When I say moderate, I say the margin was 15 points in 1997, not the 66 points from the 2019 election. There is still a Liberal and NDP presence due to the indigenous nations. One thing that I find interesting is that in 2015, even though the Liberals got more than 15% of the vote, they didn't win a single poll, yet in 2019 when they only got 6.8% of the vote, they won a few polls on the reserves. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Rosemarie Falk. 

Rosemarie Falk was initially elected in a by-election triggered by Gerry Ritz's resignation in 2017. This by-election was held on December 11th, 2017. The election went completely against the national landscape. The Liberals had been polling at +25 due to the still fairly young Trudeau government. I'm not saying this was an expected pickup, but the Conservatives gained almost 9 points while the Liberals lost more than 6 points. In 2019, the riding was 12/14 in Saskatchewan and 324/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.3/10 - I'll give them props for naming the riding after the two largest municipalities.

Shape: 5.9/10 - It's not the worst we've seen. At least where there are jagged portions, they have defined corners and aren't just squiggles.

Individuality: 6.1/10 - While it is typical with other rural ridings, I do like how there are still pockets of other parties with Liberals and NDP showing up with the indigenous nations.

Total: 20.3/30 (67.7%)

See you tomorrow when we're back in Ontario with Bay of Quinte!