Calgary Signal Hill (Alberta) 52/338

 Calgary Signal Hill (Alberta)

Today we're in Calgary Signal Hill!

Calgary Signal Hill has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Calgary West and Calgary Centre. The population of the riding was 121,392 in 2016. The riding is named for the Signal Hill neighbourhood, which had a population of 13,914 residents as of the 2012 municipal census. The riding has a median income of $111,190, the 9th largest in the country but only the 5th highest in Alberta.

Politically, it is very conservative. Shocking, right? There is actually something to be said about how the leftist vote (Liberal, NDP, Green) reduced between 2011 and 2019. The combined total in 2011-2019 is as follows, 34.8, 38.1, and 27.1. Why is this? I don't know, probably just the Alberta leftist sentiment from 2019. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Ron Liepert.

Liberals have typically done better in Calgary than the rest of Alberta, put still very Conservative. In the 21st century, the Liberals have outperformed the provincial Liberal vote at an average of 2.5%. Their best performance was the breakthrough in 2015. The Liberals won more seats than they ever had in modern history in Calgary, 2! But in all honesty, going from 13.7% in the city to 33.1% is a huge gain, and while they lost the two seats and 15% of the vote, they still had a 4.4% gain over their 2011 results. In 2019, this seat was 16/34 in Alberta and 313/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.8/10 - I appreciate the name from a neighbourhood, maybe Calgary Sarcee would be better.

Shape: 6.8/10 - It isn't awful, the river is good, and the streets are okay, the west is kind of  gross though.

Individuality: 5.3/10 - It is cool that it has a high income, and that the Libertarian leader ran here in 2015, but it is basically the most average Calgary riding.

Total: 20.9/30 (69.7%)

See you tomorrow in our final Calgary riding, Calgary Skyview!

Calgary Shepard (Alberta) 51/338

 Calgary Shepard (Alberta)

Today we're in Calgary Shepard!

Calgary Shepard has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Calgary East and Calgary Southeast. The population of the riding was 147,520 in 2016, a 33% increase from 2011. The riding is named for a former hamlet, Shepard, which was annexed to the city of Calgary in 2007 from Rocky View County.

Politically, this seat had the widest margin in all of Calgary, at almost 64 points between the Conservatives and the Liberals. Even in 2015, where the Liberals won a polling division in every Calgary seat, not in Calgary Shepard. All the typical indicators of conservatism (Older population, less diverse demographics), are not present, the median age is 34.6 and the demographics aren't different from the rest of Alberta. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Tom Kmiec. 

Today I want to talk about the Green Party in Calgary. You'd think that the bastion of Conservatives in Canada in an oil rich province wouldn't be too kind to the Green Party. Well, you're wrong. Calgary has consistently outrun the provincial average in every election in the 21st century. Their best result was in 2008, their best result nation wide, culminating in the Greens winning 11% of the Calgary-wide vote, getting second place in Calgary Southeast, and Calgary Centre giving 16% to the Greens. In 2019, the riding was 22/34 in Alberta and 322/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 5.7/10 - I don't like that the riding is named after a hamlet of 10 people. But it's an original name regardless.

Shape: 6.5/10 - It follows a river and some streets, but the east is very gross.

Individuality: 5.4/10 - It is cool how wide the margin is and the second place Greens in Calgary Southeast, but it is still very Calgary.

Total: 17.6/30 (58.7%)

See you tomorrow in Calgary Signal Hill!

Calgary Rocky Ridge (Alberta) 50/338

 Calgary Rocky Ridge (Alberta)

Today we're in Calgary Rocky Ridge!

Calgary Rocky Ridge has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Calgary-Nose Hill and Calgary West. The population of the riding was 131,823 in 2016, a 21% increase from the 2011 census (I can see why Alberta is probably getting at least three more ridings next time). The riding is named for the Rocky Ridge neighbourhood in the west of the riding.

Politically, it's Calgary in a nutshell. To be fair, the typical margin isn't as wide as the rest of the city/province. In 2019, the margin was 49.88%, which is only slightly higher than the Calgary average of 47.7%. In 2015, the margin was 28.74% and that can be seen in the one *gasp* polling division the Liberals won. The riding is currently held by Conservative MP Pat Kelly.

As we're winding down our time in Calgary, I want to discuss how the major parties do here. We'll start with the NDP: not well. The NDP increased their vote share in every Calgary riding in 2019, going from 7.2% to 10.04% average in the city. They have never won a seat, and their best performance by eye-balling the results is 2011, getting over 10% in each of the then eight ridings. They usually perform the best in Calgary Centre-North, but in 2011 Calgary Skyview snuck ahead with Gurinder Singh Gill netting 14.92% of the vote. In 2019, the riding was 13/34 in Alberta and 306/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.6/10 - Again, love the neighbourhood names, but Rocky Ridge had only about 8,000 residents at the last Census, so I would prefer Calgary Tuscany or Calgary Crowchild.

Shape: 5.6/10 - They tried, but I can't forgive that panhandle.

Individuality: 4.7/10 - This isn't too different from the rest of the Calgary ridings, maybe even a bit more Conservative than most of Northern Calgary.

Total: 18.9/30 (63%)

See you tomorrow in Calgary Shepard!

Calgary Nose Hill (Alberta) 49/338

Calgary Nose Hill (Alberta)

Today we're in northern Calgary with Calgary Nose Hill!

Calgary Nose Hill has existed as a riding since 1997, created from the Calgary North and Wildrose ridings. The population of the riding was 115,795 in 2016. The riding is almost a quarter Chinese, 22.2% in 2016. The riding is named for Nose Hill Park, the fourth largest urban park in Canada at over 11 square kilometers.

Politically, I don't need to tell you. Wide margins, closer in 2015 and during the split Conservative years, but not too much difference. Provincially, two of the three went NDP in 2015, while the last remained PC. As you'd expect, however, they all flipped to the UCP in 2019, but the seats kept most of their NDP support, only losing at most 7%. The seat is currently represented by Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner.

Michelle Rempel Garner was first elected to the House of Commons in 2011 and served in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet as Minister of Western Economic Development. She actually first entered federal politics by volunteering for the MP she would eventually replace, Diane Albonczy, who she would eventually serve in cabinet alongside. In 2019, the riding was 15/34 in Alberta and 311/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 9.3/10 - I love how a lot of Calgary ridings are named after their parks!

Shape: 7.5/10 - This riding is okay for the most part, just the top part is so annoying to me. It doesn't even look like anyone even lives there.

Individuality: 4.2/10 - It is cool that two female ministers served here, but not too different from the rest of the city/province.

Total: 21/30 (70%)

See you tomorrow in Calgary Rocky Ridge!

Calgary Midnapore (Alberta) 48/338

 Calgary Midnapore (Alberta)

Today we're in Calgary Midnapore!

Calgary Midnapore has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, most of the territory coming from Calgary Southeast. The population of the riding was 121,844 in 2016. The riding is named for the Midnapore neighbourhood. The riding is largely suburban, getting a little bit more rural in the south of the riding, but still not far from the suburbs.

Politically, this riding is very Conservative. The riding was PC heartland, flipping Liberal twice in the 60's, and going Reform in 1993 with the rest of Alberta. This seat was actually held by Jan Brown, former Reform MP who spoke out against the right-wing of the Reform Party, was suspended by party vote, and sat as an independent. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie.

Stephanie Kusie was first elected in a by-election prompted by Jason Kenney's resignation. Jason Kenney had sat as an MP for almost 20 years, holding four different ministerial positions in the Harper Cabinet. Jason Kenney resigned to take part in the founding of the United Conservative Party of Alberta and won the premiership in 2019. In 2019, the riding was 21/34 in Alberta and 320/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 7.6/10 - Similar to yesterday, I like it but wish it was better.

Shape: 6.8/10 - It is okay, following streets, but some of the little bits that jut out bug me.

Individuality: 4.2/10 - It's cool that Jason Kenney is from here, but you can find a prominent Conservative in every Calgary riding.

Total: 18.6/30 (62%)

See you tomorrow in Calgary Nose Hill!

Calgary Heritage (Alberta) 47/338

 Calgary Heritage (Alberta)

Today we're in southwestern Calgary in Calgary Heritage!

Calgary Heritage has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, almost entirely from Calgary Southwest, but a small portion from Calgary Southeast. The population of the riding was 112,087 in 2016. The riding is named for Heritage Park on the Glenmore Reservoir. The riding is fairly suburban, being south of Downtown Calgary.

Politically, the seat is very strongly Conservative, which could be due to the candidate we'll talk about later. This seat has historically given the Conservatives some of their largest margins, the smallest one since 1988 was 37.83% in 1997. In the 2015 Alberta Provincial Election, the NDP picked up the riding of Calgary-Glenmore within this riding by 6 votes! The riding is currently held by Conservative MP Bob Benzen.

That candidate from earlier? None other than the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper! He actually first ran in Calgary West as a Reform candidate, losing in 1988, but picking it up in 1993. He didn't run in 1997, but he came back in 2002 to replace Preston Manning in a by-election where he stayed in this seat until he resigned in 2016 after losing the general election to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In 2019, the riding was 17/34 in Alberta and 314/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating: 

Name: 8.8/10 - Heritage Park looks nice and has some relevance, but I wish it was named Calgary Glenmore like the provincial riding.

Shape: 5.5/10 - It really isn't that great, it juts out with weird shapes. Just weird.

Individuality: 6.7/10 - It's cool that Stephen Harper and Preston Manning both were party leaders from this seat, and it's interesting how Conservative it is.

Total: 21/30 (70%)

See you tomorrow in Calgary Midnapore!

Calgary Forest Lawn (Alberta) 46/338

 Calgary Forest Lawn (Alberta)

Today we're in eastern Calgary with Calgary Forest Lawn!

Calgary Forest Lawn has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Calgary East and Calgary Northeast. The population of the riding was 111,830 in 2016. The riding has a fairly high proportion of South Asian and Filipino population (11.2% and 10.4% respectively.) The riding is named for the Forest Lawn neighbourhood.

Politically, this riding is, you guessed it, Conservative for the past, basically forever. It was Social Credit for 23 years, but that's also under very different boundaries and it was 64 years ago. It was closer than before in 2015, when the Liberals finished only 12 points behind the Conservatives. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Jasraj Hallan.

Going along the track of tragic stories from yesterday, the MP before Jasraj Hallan, Deepak Obhrai, was the longest serving Conservative in the House of Commons up to his death on August 2nd, 2019. He was first elected in 1997 as a Reform MP, beating the PC candidate by 20 points. He died of liver cancer around the same time as another prominent Conservative MP Mark Warawa who died on June 20th, 2019. In 2019, the riding was 9/34 in Alberta and 286/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.4/10 - I appreciate ridings that are named for neighbourhoods, but it seems not that large, at least not large enough to define a riding after it.

Shape: 5.6/10 - Not a huge fan of the appendages. 

Individuality: 4.3/10 - Not too different, it is cool the MP was the longest serving Conservative.

Total: 18.3/30 (61%)

See you tomorrow in Calgary Heritage! (Sounds familiar, there's someone important from there, right?)

Calgary Confederation (Alberta) 45/338

Calgary Confederation (Alberta)

Today we're one riding north with Calgary Confederation!

Calgary Confederation has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, one of two new Calgary ridings in this redistribution. The riding is north of Bow River and contains the University of Calgary in the southwest part of the riding. The riding is named for Confederation Park, which was created in 1967 to commemorate the centennial. The population was 122,023 in 2016.

Politically, the riding is fairly similar to the rest of Calgary. It has been staunchly Conservative for most of its existence, a left-of-center party never getting more than 21%, until 2015, when the Liberals only lost by 1,586 votes or 2.38%. Things returned to the status quo, with some minor gains for the Liberals, still getting more 22% of the votes. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Len Webber.

The riding had previously been represented by Conservative MP Jim Prentice. He was first elected in 2004, and stayed in federal office until he retired to become the vice-chairman of CIBC. He entered provincial politics in 2014, becoming the interim leader of the Alberta PC's and became Premier where he stayed until the 2015 election when he resigned after the NDP won their majority. He tragically died on October 13th, 2016 after a small plane crash in Lake Country, BC. He was given a state funeral, which was attended by politicians of every stripe, including Premier Christy Clark, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Premier Rachel Notley. In 2019, the riding was 6/34 in Alberta and 265/338 in Canada.

Rating:

Name: 8.9/10 - I love ridings that are named after the landscape! There is quite a bit of green space in this riding, so it makes sense.

Shape: 6.5/10 - It does a pretty good job of following streets and rivers, but not good enough.

Individuality: 6.4/10 - It is interesting how the Liberals kept some of their momentum in 2019, despite still losing by 30+ points.

Total: 21.8/30 (72.7%)

See you tomorrow in Calgary Forest Lawn!

Calgary Centre (Alberta) 44/338

 Calgary Centre (Alberta)

Today we're in our first of 10 Calgary ridings, the aptly named Calgary Centre!

Calgary Centre has existed as a riding since 1968. It contains the downtown core of Calgary and has a population of 119,176 as of the 2016 census. Elbow River runs through the riding and empties into the Glenmore Reservoir. The riding, like quite a few urban ridings, has a higher per capita post secondary education rate, with 49.5% of the riding having a Bachelor's degree vs. the Alberta average of 23.4%.

Politically, Calgary Centre is one of the most Liberal ridings in the city, which is to say, not very much. Until 2015, the riding had only been represented by some flavour of Conservative Party. However, in 2015 the Liberals broke through in Calgary when they won Calgary Centre and Calgary Skyview. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Greg McLean.

This seat was held by former Prime Minister Joe Clark in 2000, after his mandate. He was the sole Progressive Conservative elected in Alberta in that election, most of the rest of the province was swept by the Canadian Alliance. Joe Clark sat as an independent after refusing to join in the Conservative merger of 2003. In 2019, the riding was 10/34 in Alberta and 294/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.6/10 - It is pretty darn central so I can appreciate that. I'd like Calgary-Elbow (like they have provincially)

Shape: 8.2/10 - It makes sense and I like it. Weird squiggles, but it follows streets and rivers, so I can't complain that much.

Individuality: 8.4/10 - This seat has had pretty weird swings (Greens in 2012 by-election, Liberals in 2015 election) and I like that.

Total: 25.2/30 (84%)

See you tomorrow in our next day of C A L G A R Y  W E E K in Calgary Confederation!

Burnaby South (British Columbia) 43/338

 Burnaby South (British Columbia)

Today we're one riding south with Burnaby South.

Burnaby South has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution. It contains the southern portion of Burnaby, the population being 111,973 as of 2016. The majority of the population of the riding is Asian, the riding being 39% Chinese as of 2016, much higher than the provincial average of 11.8%.

Politically, this riding, like the rest of Burnaby, has been held by the NDP for the past 17 years. It has gotten closer in the past few years, but it is still pretty strong for the NDP. While federal and provincial politics are very different, it's worth noting that in 2020, Burnaby was the largest municipality that voted solely for the NDP, Surrey and Vancouver elected two BC Liberals each. The riding is currently represented by NDP MP Jagmeet Singh.

Does that name sound familiar? It should. Jagmeet Singh is the leader of the federal NDP as of October 1st, 2017, and was first elected to Parliament in 2019 in a by-election when MP Kennedy Stewart resigned to run successfully for Mayor of Vancouver. Jagmeet Singh gained national attention as the first Indo-Canadian and visible minority to lead a major federal political party. In 2019, the riding was 13/42 in BC and 65/338 in Canada.

Rating:

Name: 8.7/10 - It is straight to the point, but I would like Burnaby-Deer Lake.

Shape: 7.5/10 - It follows roads, but I feel that some of the boundaries could be adjusted to look cleaner.

Individuality: 7.7/10 - I appreciate how it has been so close and yet still held by the NDP in the past few elections.

Total: 23.9/30 (79.7%)

Are you ready? (ready for what) C A L G A R Y  W E E K!!!

Burnaby North-Seymour (British Columbia) 42/338

 Burnaby North-Seymour (British Columbia)

Today we're finally back in my home province with Burnaby North-Seymour!

Burnaby North-Seymour has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Burnaby-Douglas and North Vancouver. The riding contains the eastern portion of North Vancouver (85,935 as of 2016; shared with North Vancouver) and the northern portion of Burnaby (232,755 in 2016; shared with Burnaby South and New Westminster-Burnaby). Burnaby is the third largest city in BC, following Vancouver and Surrey.

Politically, the riding is different depending if you're in North Vancouver or Burnaby. North Vancouver has been held by the Liberals for all but 7 years in the past 21 years, but Burnaby is moderate, but usually an NDP hold. So when the boundaries were redistributed, the Liberal strength in North Vancouver pushed the riding towards the Liberals. The riding is currently held by Liberal MP Terry Beech.

One of the reasons Burnaby has been strong for the NDP for so long is Svend Robinson. Svend Robinson represented Burnaby from 1979-2004. In that time, he became the first MP to come out while in office. In 2019, he ran again in Burnaby North-Seymour, but because of the Liberal strength and some controversy at the end of his time in office, he lost by 1,585 votes. In 2019, the riding was 5/42 in BC and 29/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 7.4/10 - I appreciate that it's named after Mount Seymour/the region and it is very literal with Burnaby North.

Shape: 7.8/10 - Very clean lines for the most part, not really a fan of the part just across the river.

Individuality: 6.7/10 - I like that it is literally a combination of the political spheres of North Vancouver and Burnaby.

Total: 21.9/30 (7.3%)

We're going south tomorrow with Burnaby South!

Burlington (Ontario) 41/338

Burlington (Ontario)

Today we're on the shores of Lake Ontario with Burlington!

Burlington has existed as a riding since 1976, and contains most of the city of Burlington (183,314 in 2016). Burlington has an older population per capita than the Ontario average. The provincial average is 14.9% 65 and over, whereas Burlington has 19.3% 65 and over and 21% of women are 65 and over. It also has a smaller proportion of visible minorities, 25.7% Ontario average vs. 16.0% Burlington.

Politically, this riding has been a reliable bellwether since 1984. Something that's even more satisfying is that the past two times it traded hands (2006 and 2015), the margin was smaller than normal. The average margin of victory is 14.03% since 2000, the margin in 2006 was 3.99% and 2015 was 3.5%. The riding is currently represented by the Minister of International Development, Karina Gould.

Speaking of Karina Gould, she has hit a few milestones with her time in office. Locally, she was the youngest person elected to the riding since it's creation. On January 10th, 2017, she was shuffled into Justin Trudeau's cabinet as the Minister of Democratic Institutions and the President of the Queen's Privy Council. This marked her position as the youngest female cabinet minister in Canadian history. In 2019, the riding was 60/121 in Ontario and 144/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 10/10 - Not much else to be said, it is only the city. You can't fit it all in so it makes sense that it is split up.

Shape: 8.3/10 - I like most of it, it's just the south portion that's a little iffy for me.

Individuality: 8.2/10 - We love a good bellwether and Karina Gould puts this pretty high up too.

Total: 26.5/30 (88.3%)

Tomorrow we're back in BC after 41 days with Burnaby North-Seymour!

Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound (Ontario) 40/338

 Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound (Ontario)

Today we're on the shores of Lake Huron with Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound!

Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound has existed as a riding since 1933. The population centers are Owen Sound (21,341 in 2016), Hanover (7,688 in 2016), and Meaford (4,910 in 2016). Because the riding has a largely rural population, there are nine townships and two indigenous reserves (Neyaashiinigmiing and Saugeen 27) within the riding. 

Politically, this riding has only ever been held by a Liberal or a Conservative (historically Progressive). However, since 2004 it has been more reliably Conservative. In the six elections since 2004, there have only been two elections where the Liberals were within 10 points of winning the riding: 2004 and 2015. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Alex Ruff.

Strangely, the Greens swung the seat 14 points to get second place in the riding in 2008, which can be attributed to the fact that 2008 was the best election for the Greens in terms of popular vote percentage despite not winning any seats. In 2011, the NDP got second place in this riding, which was their best election in popular vote and seat count. In 2019, this riding was 74/121 in Ontario and 180/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 6.8/10 - I like that it's named after the counties and the largest municipality, but it's just too many names.

Shape: 7.3/10 - For a rural riding, the edges are actually pretty good, not perfect, but pretty good.

Individuality: 8.2/10 - It is really cool to see how much Green support there was in Owen Sound.

Total: 22.3/30 (74.3%)

Tomorrow we're on the shores of Lake Ontario with Burlington!

Brossard-Saint-Lambert (Quebec) 39/338

Brossard-Saint-Lambert (Quebec)

Today we're in Quebec with Brossard-Saint-Lambert.

Brossard-Saint-Lambert has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution. The population centers are, well, Brossard (85,721 in 2016) and Saint-Lambert (21,861 in 2016). The riding is a suburb of Montreal, connected to Montreal by the Samuel de Champlain bridge. The riding has a large Chinese population, about 15% of Brossard is of Chinese origin, higher than the Quebec-wide proportion of 1.5%.

Politically, this riding is similar to the rest of Quebec in terms of trends. The riding was safe Liberal until the Bloc took it in 2006, the Liberals took it back in 2008, but in 2011 Hoang Mai of the NDP swung the seat 28 points, going from 4th place the previous election to winning the seat with a comfortable margin of 14 points. The seat is currently held by Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès.

This seat is somewhat notorious for re-running candidates. Marcel Lussier ran in four elections as a Bloc MP, the second one he won. Alexandra Mendès has also ran in four elections, winning three of them. Hoang Mai ran in three elections, winning one. Oddly enough, there was the exact same roster of candidates in 2008 and 2011, barring the Green candidate, but the same Marxist-Leninist ran in both elections. In 2019, the riding was 64/78 in Quebec and 271/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 9.0/10 - I appreciate how simple it is, just wish the names were shorter but whatever.

Shape: 7.6/10 - It isn't awful, pretty clean lines in as far as Quebec goes.

Individuality: 8.2/10 - It is cool that they re-ran the candidates again and again, but it doesn't really reflect in their vote total.

Total: 24.8/30 (82.7%)

See you tomorrow in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound!

Brome-Missisquoi (Quebec) 38/338

 Brome-Missisqoui (Quebec)

Today we're back in Quebec with Brome-Missisqoui!

Brome-Missisqoui has existed as a riding since 1924, and has gained and lost territory and changed names multiple times. The population centers are Magog (20,830 in 2016), Cowansville (11,809 in 2016), and Farnham (6,731 in 2016). The riding is along the Canada-US Border, bordering the state of Vermont.

Politically, the riding has been held by four different people from three different parties in the past four elections. Bloc MP Christian Ouellet held the riding from 2006-2011 when NDP MP Pierre Jacob took the seat in 2011. In 2015, the Liberal wave gave Denis Paradis this seat, and when he didn't stand for re-election, Lyne Bessette won the seat in 2019. The seat is currently held by Liberal MP Lyne Bessette.

The seat had been held by the Bloc in 1993, by MP Gaston Péloquin. After less than a year in office, he tragically died in a car crash at the age of 54. In the by-election following his death, Liberal candidate Denis Paradis swung the seat 14 points to take the seat, where he stayed in office for a combined 13 years, even running during the 2006-2011 elections when he didn't win. In 2019, the riding was 12/78 in Quebec and 37/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 7.7/10 - I really like regional names, I just wish that it was a little shorter, even just Brome would be okay with me.

Shape: 6.1/10 - It's not as bad as it could be, but it still isn't great.

Individuality: 7.2/10 - It's cool how it has been held by a few people and parties, and there is some satisfying regionalism in the riding too.

Total: 21/30 (70%)

Tomorrow we're not too far with Brossard-Saint Lambert!

Brantford-Brant (Ontario) 37/338

Brantford-Brant (Ontario)

Today we’re in Southern Ontario with Brantford-Brant!

Brantford-Brant has existed in some form since the 2012 redistribution. The population centers are Brantford (97,496 in 2016) and Paris (12,310 in 2016). The riding also contains Six Nations of the Grand River indigenous reserve, which is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada.

Politically, the riding has kind of gone in a reverse trend from the rest of the country. Pre-1971 it flipped between the Liberals and Conservatives, until the NDP took the riding and held it for 22 years, when the Liberals took it in 1993 and kept it until 2008, when the Conservatives took the riding and have held it to this day. The riding is currently held by Conservative MP Phil McColeman.

Oddly enough, all three parties just listed won polls in the city of Brantford, which is a testament to how moderate non-Toronto cities are. This riding provincially is reliably Liberal, except for in 1995 and 2018 when the Conservatives came from behind and won a majority, an election after the Liberals won a large majority federally. In 2019, the riding was 32/121 in Ontario and 92/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating: 

Name: 8.4/10 - Brantford does have the majority of the population and I guess Ontario does have counties for some reason.

Shape: 7.3/10 - I actually really like it, there's minimal corners for the shape if that makes sense.

Individuality: 8.8/10 - It's really cool how the city has stayed moderate but the riding itself has gone to the right recently.

Total: 24.5/30 (81.7%)

See you tomorrow in Brome-Missiquoi!

Brandon-Souris (Manitoba) 36/338

 Brandon-Souris (Manitoba)

Today we’re in Manitoba with Brandon-Souris!

Brandon-Souris has existed as a riding since 1953. While there are small communities scattered around the riding, the main population centre is Brandon (48,859 in 2016). This riding is also our first non-contiguous riding, with Brandon Municipal Airport being part of this riding while being surrounded by Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawk.

Politically, this riding has been safe for the Conservative party except for two very specific scenarios. The first scenario it voted Liberal was in 1993. The seat was reliably PC, and when the PC fell off, the vote was split between the PC and the Reform Party, leading the Liberals to win with almost 1000 votes. The seat is currently held by Conservative MP Larry MacGuire.

MacGuire was first elected in a by-election in 2013, prompted by the resignation of Merv Tweed, who left to work in the private sector. The by-election in 2013 was very competitive, the Liberals finishing 389 votes behind the Conservatives. This could be attributed to low turnout in by-elections, but also that Rolf Dinsdale was the grandson of longtime Conservative MP Walter Dinsdale. This riding was 11/14 in Manitoba and 304/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.9/10

Shape: 4.5/10

Individuality: 7.5/10

Total: 20.9/30 (69.7%)

See you tomorrow in Brantford-Brant!

Brampton West (Ontario) 35/338

 Brampton West (Ontario)

Today we're in our final Brampton riding, Brampton West!

Brampton West has existed as a riding since 2003, and was first contested in the 2004 election. The riding contains the westernmost portion of Brampton. The population of the riding was 130,000 in 2016. In 2006, the riding had the highest percentage of people of Jamaican origin in Canada, at 13.2%.

Politically, the riding is the same as every other Brampton riding. This riding, however, was exceptionally close in 2008, with Kyle Seeback finishing 231 votes behind Andrew Kania after a judicial recount. Kyle Seeback came back in 2011, however and won the riding by a 6,000 vote margin. The riding is currently represented by Liberal MP Kamal Khera.

The riding will probably be safe for the Liberals for a few elections, but second place has narrowed up between the Conservatives and NDP, going from a 17.7 margin to a 5.5 margin with the Conservatives in front. That being said, the Liberals still held 35% of the vote in 2011, which could be attributed to the long history of electing Liberals in that riding. In 2019, the riding was 104/121 in Ontario and 252/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.3/10 - It's pretty good, although I will offer Brampton-Sandalwood or Brampton-Bovaird.

Shape: 7.5/10 - I'd say it's pretty good, it follows the streets, but it doesn't mean I like the streets.

Individuality: 6.4/10 - I love how close the margin was in 2008, but the riding is still the same as the rest of Brampton.

Total: 22.2/30 (74%)

Thanks for joining me on my journey through Brampton, see you tomorrow in Brandon-Souris!

Brampton South (Ontario) 34/338

Brampton South (Ontario)

Today we're in our penultimate Brampton riding, Brampton South!

Brampton South has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution. The population of the riding was 121,188 as of 2016. The riding is on the border of Brampton and Mississauga as well as Halton Hills. The eastern portion is very suburban, whereas the western portion closer to Halton Hills is more rural.

Politically, the riding is the same story as the rest of Brampton. One thing of note is that both in 2015 and 2019, this riding had the best performance for the Conservatives in Brampton, 35 points in 2015 and 28 points in 2019. This could be due to Kyle Seeback being on the ballot three elections in a row, he lost in 2008 and 2015, but held the seat from 2011-2015. The seat is currently held by Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu.

This riding was won by a majority in 2015 and was won by a plurality in 2019. It shares this characteristic with Brampton East. Oddly enough, Brampton North was won by a plurality in 2015 and a majority in 2019. Brampton West was won by a majority both times, and Brampton Centre was won by a plurality both elections. In 2019, this riding was 84/121 in Ontario and 203/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.6/10 - This riding out of all the cardinal ridings makes the most sense to me. Brampton-Davis would still be better though.

Shape: 6.1/10 - This is probably my least favourite shape. I know it follows streets, but it just doesn't look right.

Individuality: 7.3/10 - I do love a good regionalism, and the 2015 result where there's a large blue suburb is so satisfying.

Total: 22/30 - (73.3%)

See you tomorrow in our last Brampton riding, Brampton West!

Brampton North (Ontario) 33/338

 Brampton North (Ontario)

Today we're in Brampton North!

Brampton North has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution. The population of the riding was 118,180 in 2016. This riding is the smallest in the Brampton area, at 33.11 square kilometers, and by extension the densest. While the riding is largely suburban, there is also quite a bit of green space, with Heart Lake Conservation Park and Conservation Drive Park both on the west side of the riding.

Politically, the riding is very similar to the rest of Brampton, solid Liberal except for 2011. Unlike the other ridings, this is the only riding in Brampton that increased the Liberal vote in 2019. This could be due to Parm Gill who had run several times before in the GTA and was the incumbent in 2015. The riding is currently represented by Liberal MP Ruby Sahota.

The MP before Parm Gill was also a Liberal named Ruby, Ruby Dhalla, which Gill used against Ruby Sahota in the general election campaign, citing Ruby Dhalla's policies, which Ruby Sahota was clear she didn't stand for. In the end, Ruby Sahota got the last laugh, swinging the seat over 20 points to win the Liberals the riding. In 2019, the riding was 94/121 in Ontario and 224/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 7.7/10 - Yes, it is the most north, but I'd really like if it was named Brampton-Heart Lake.

Shape: 6.7/10 - Pretty non-offensive, at least the jutting out bits have clean corners.

Individuality: 5.6/10 - It's cool that the Liberals increased their vote share in 2015, but that isn't enough to rank it higher.

Total: 20/30 (66.7%)

See you tomorrow in Brampton South!

Brampton East (Ontario) 32/338

 Brampton East (Ontario)

Today we're one riding over in Brampton East!

Brampton East has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution. The population of the riding was 122,000 in 2016. The riding is the only federal electoral district with a South Asian majority (65.8% in 2016). It also has the highest percentage of Sikhs (33.7%) and Hindus (19.5%) of any riding in Canada. 

Politically, the riding has been solid for the Liberals in every election except for 2011. In 2011, the riding was won by the Conservatives with the NDP swinging 24 points and finishing only 539 votes behind. Who was the NDP candidate? None other than current NDP leader Jagmeet Singh! He won the riding in the provincial election the same year. The riding is currently represented by Liberal MP Maninder Sidhu. 

I don't talk about provincial politics often, but it's worth mentioning how wide the swing in Bramalea-Gore-Malton was in 2011 for the NDP. Prior to this, the NDP had never had a seat in the Peel Region, now they have three. Now, this isn't reflected in federal seats, but in the region, the NDP gained a net 3.95% versus the -1.48% for the Liberals and -4.97% for the Conservatives. In 2019, the riding was 83/121 in Ontario, and 202/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.9/10 - It is the most east, so I'm not too mad, but I wish they were a bit more creative.

Shape: 8.2/10 - I really like it! Clean corners, mostly straight lines, minimal juts out.

Individuality: 5.3/10 - It is on par with the region, but you can see where the NDP went into second in front of the Conservatives.

Total: 22.4/30 (74.6%)

See you tomorrow in Brampton North! (Link for Brampton results here.)

Brampton Centre (Ontario) 31/338

 Brampton Centre (Ontario)

Today we're in the Greater Toronto Area with Brampton Centre!

Brampton Centre as a riding has existed since the 2012 redistribution. It had previously existed from 1997-2004, but under very different boundaries. The population of the riding was 102,270 in 2016. The riding is almost a plurality minority, Brampton as a whole has a 44% South Asian population, this riding having a 38% Asian population (which includes groups other than South Asian).

Politically, the riding has been safe for the Liberals every time it has been contested. When the riding was under the name Brampton-Springdale, it had gotten increasingly closer from 2004-2011 when the Conservatives flipped the riding in 2011. While there are polls here and there that went Conservative, they were all swept by the Liberals in 2019. The riding is currently represented by Independent MP Ramesh Sangha. 

As you probably know, there was only one independent elected in 2019, Jody Wilson-Raybould. Ramesh Sangha was ousted from the Liberal Caucus on January 25th, 2021 for accusing several Liberal MP's of supporting the Khalistan (Sikh separatist) movement. It is unclear if Ramesh Sangha is planning on running again as an independent. In 2019, the riding was 81/121 in Ontario and 195/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.5/10 - I don't really know what to say, if it was a bit more central I'd be happier with the name.

Shape: 6.4/10 - It juts out a bit at the northeast which I don't like, and I wish it hugged the 407 a bit more.

Individuality: 3.7/10 - When there are 5 ridings that all essentially vote the same way, it'll be hard to find individuality.

Total: 18.6/30 (62%)

See you later today with Brampton East!