Cypress Hills—Grasslands (Saskatchewan) 77/338

 Cypress Hills—Grasslands (Saskatchewan)

Today we're in southwestern Saskatchewan with Cypress Hills—Grasslands!

Cypress Hills—Grasslands has existed as a riding since 1997. The population was 68,353 in 2016. The population centers are Swift Current (16,604 in 2016), Kindersley (4,571 in 2016), and Assiniboia (2,389 in 2016). The riding is named for two parks in the riding, Cypress Hills which stretches across the AB-SK border, and Grasslands National Park located just outside Val Marie.

Politically, this riding has been some flavour of Conservative since 1958, only really getting close to flipping in 1968 and 1993. 1993 in particular there were only 825 votes separating the Reform Party and the Liberal Party. The last time a non-conservative got over 20% in the riding was 2011 for the NDP and 1997 for the Liberals. The riding is currently represented by Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer.

Quick fun facts: Despite not running a campaign or a local candidate, the Liberals still got second place in a polling division in Gravelbourg, which is thanks to the loyalty of elderly French-Canadians to the Liberals. While Saskatchewan is the birthplace of CCF/NDP, Swift Current has only elected a CCF MP once, in 1945 when the party swept the province. In 2019, this seat was 13/14 in Saskatchewan and 329/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.4/10 - I appreciate ridings named after geography/parks I guess. Maybe something regarding the towns? 

Shape: 9.2/10 - Very good, but whoever put that little hook in the southeast, I don't care if it follows municipal boundaries, I still don't like you.

Individuality: 3.6/10 - It is interesting how close it was in those two elections, but at this point with our polarization, the riding is grouped in with the rest of the rural prairie seats.

Total: 21.2/30 (70.7%)

Tomorrow we're in Nova Scotia with Dartmouth—Cole Harbour!