Compton—Stanstead (Quebec) 72/338

 Compton—Stanstead (Quebec)

Today we're back in Quebec with Compton—Stanstead!

Compton—Stanstead has existed since 1996, created from Mégantic—Compton—Stanstead and Richmond—Wolfe. The population was 105,459 in 2016. The population centers are Coaticook (8,698 in 2016), Windsor (5,419 in 2016), and part of Sherbrooke (161,323 in 2016, shared with Sherbrooke). The riding is named for the namesake municipalities.

Politically, this seat has had an interesting recent history. It went Bloc in 1993 but flipped to the Progressive Conservatives in 1997, which could've been aided by the leader, Jean Charest, having his seat in Sherbrooke. The incumbent PC ran as a Liberal and won, but was defeated by the Bloc, where it stayed from 2004-2011 when the NDP took the seat. The seat has been reliably Liberal since 2015. The seat is currently represented by Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Liberal MP Marie-Claude Bibeau.

Marie-Claude Bibeau has held a minister portfolio since Justin Trudeau's first cabinet, starting with Minister responsible for La Francophonie and Minister of International Development, and was shuffled into Agriculture on March 1st, 2019. She is also married to the former mayor of Sherbrooke, Bernard Sévigny, and completed her and completed two degrees at Université de Sherbrooke. In 2019, this riding was 18/78 in Quebec and 54/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 6.7/10 - It's hard when you have a riding with one main population center that is already in another riding. That being said, they tried, so I'll give them that.

Shape: 7.2/10 - Not generally a fan of ridings that encompass others, but it's hard to figure out a way that doesn't make it look awkward. It also follows municipal boundaries, so that's good.

Individuality: 7.7/10 - It's crazy how much the PC's fell off in 2000 after the floor crosser, and a 2004 pickup for the Bloc is interesting too.
Total: 21.6/30 (72%)

See you tomorrow in BC with Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam!