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?)