Edmonton Strathcona (Alberta) 95/338

 Edmonton Strathcona (Alberta)

Today we're in south-central Edmonton with Edmonton Strathcona!

Edmonton Strathcona has existed as a riding since 1953. The population of the riding was 106,066 in 2016. The riding contains the neighbourhoods of Strathcona, Queen Alexandra, and Riverdale. While most ridings in Edmonton are on either side of the North Saskatchewan River, this riding has a small portion across the river in Riverdale.

Politically, this seat has recently become the safest NDP seat in the country. In 2021, Heather McPherson won this seat with over 60% support, something that hadn't been done anywhere since 2011. What makes this seat so NDP friendly? While the median age is on average with the city, 32% of the riding is between 20-34 while that number is only 25.7% in the rest of the city. A lot of the NDP support is concentrated in the Strathcona neighbourhood. The riding is currently held by NDP MP Heather McPherson.

This riding shares a name and some boundaries with the provincial riding of NDP leader and former premier, Rachel Notley. Rachel Notley was the first non-PC premier in 44 years, winning a staggering majority and winning the majority of seats in Calgary after 26 years of the party not holding seats in the province's largest city. In 2019, this seat was 2/34 in Alberta and 98/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.8/10 - Great neighbourhood name! I wouldn't be opposed to Edmonton University because University of Alberta is here too, but it's not the end of the world.

Shape: 7.6/10 - Not awful, but I can't forgive them giving Riverdale to this riding and crossing the river.

Individuality: 9.2/10 - Very individual! Might be a foreshadowing for the direction that Edmonton is going, Premier Notley being from here is a plus too.

Total: 25.6/30 (85.3%)

Tomorrow we're in, well, western Edmonton with Edmonton West!

Edmonton Riverbend (Alberta) 94/338

 Edmonton Riverbend (Alberta)

Today we're in southwest Edmonton with Edmonton Riverbend!

Edmonton Riverbend has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Edmonton—Leduc. The population of the riding was 120,863 in 2016. The riding contains the neighbourhoods of Falconer Heights, Terwillegar Heights, and Kaskitayo. Kaskitayo is actually pretty similar to Mill Woods in the sense that it was developed in the 1970's and contains a good chunk of the riding.

Politically, this seat was the most Conservative in Edmonton proper in 2015, granted St. Albert had a former Conservative MP running as an Independent. In general, the west side of the city is the more Conservative part of the city. In the 2015 provincial election, this was the part of the city where the PC's still performed decently, getting from 22-32% in each provincial riding, which is more than they could say in the rest of the city. This seat is currently represented by Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux.

Speaking of Matt Jeneroux, he has had an interesting political history. He served in the Alberta Legislature from 2012 until his defeat in 2015 from the aforementioned provincial election. He was elected pretty safely in the following federal election, and served in a couple critic portfolios, notably Health Minister, raising concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. He also was named co-chair of the United Conservative Party in 2018. In 2019, this seat was 8/34 in Alberta and 274/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 4.2/10 - Riverbend could be used as an adjective in six Edmonton ridings, I'd really like if they followed Mill Woods and went with Kaskitayo.

Shape: 6.7/10 - Pretty okay, but just okay. Not a huge fan of cutting right through White Mud Park.

Individuality: 4.3/10 - Pretty typical Edmonton riding: Staunch Conservative, leading towards becoming a competitive riding.

Total: 15.2/30 (50.7%)

Tomorrow we're one riding northeast with Edmonton Strathcona!

Edmonton Mill Woods (Alberta) 93/338

 Edmonton Mill Woods (Alberta)

Today we're in southeast Edmonton with Edmonton Mill Woods!

Edmonton Mill Woods has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont. The population of the riding was 118,561 in 2016. The riding contains the neighbourhoods of Mill Woods, Silver Berry, and Larkspur. Mill Woods was first developed in the 1970's, with this riding being the most South Asian riding in Edmonton.

Politically, this seat is one of the more reliable Liberal seats in Edmonton. Since 1988, this seat has been evenly split between the Liberals and Conservatives. From 1988-2006, this seat was held by Progressive Conservative turned Liberal turned Independent David Kilgour, he even won in 2000 with more than 50%, which hasn't been done by a Liberal in Edmonton since. This seat is currently held by Conservative MP Tim Uppal.

The MP before Uppal was Amarjeet Sohi, cabinet minister, former city councillor, and now mayor of Edmonton. Sohi served on Edmonton City Council from October 2007 until November 2015. While in Parliament, he served as Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of Natural Resources. He was recently elected mayor of Edmonton, winning over 45% of the vote, almost 20 points more than his main competitor Mike Nickel. In 2019, this seat was 3/34 in Alberta and 157/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 9.7/10 - I really enjoy it! Good name, very historical, I do wish that it was able to encapsulate the whole riding.

Shape: 8.5/10 - I like the road surrounding the riding, maybe following Gateway Boulevard instead just so there was a straight line in the west.

Individuality: 8.4/10 - Really individual! Liberal majority (+ Paul Martin) = this seat goes to the Liberals.

Total: 26.6/30 (88.7%)

Tomorrow, we're one riding west with Edmonton Riverbend!

Edmonton Manning (Alberta) 92/338

 Edmonton Manning (Alberta)

Today we're in northeast Edmonton with Edmonton Manning!

Edmonton Manning has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Edmonton East, Edmonton—Sherwood Park, and Edmonton—St. Albert. The population of the riding was 121,048 in 2016. The riding contains the neighbourhoods of McConachie, Belvedere, and Lake District. The riding has grown 14% between censuses, which is actually behind the Edmonton city growth of 14.8%.

Politically, this seat isn't as safe as it once was. Back in the 2000's, this seat would get upwards of 55% to vote Conservative. It changed a little in 2008 and 2011 when Independent James Ford ran and got around 30%, but that was an anomaly, the rest of the city was still reliably Conservative. However, in 2015 and 2021, the Conservatives have won with a plurality, with the Liberals 18 points behind in 2015 and the NDP 10 points behind in 2021. The seat is currently represented by Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif.

While the riding is named for Manning Drive that runs through it, by extension it is named after Ernest Manning. Ernest Manning was the eighth Premier of Alberta and was the second and longest serving Premier of the Social Credit Era. His seat for most of his years in the legislature was in Edmonton (at large for 19 years), and then he served in modern day Edmonton Strathcona. In 2019, this seat was 7/34 in Alberta and 273/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.2/10 - Not generally a fan of politician named ridings, but this one also has a road, so I guess its forgivable.

Shape: 6.4/10 - Not awful, it follows the municipal lines, but still its gross.

Individuality: 6.1/10 - Cool swings, but still a pretty typical Edmonton riding.

Total: 20.7/30 (69%)

See you on Monday with Edmonton Mill Woods!

Edmonton Griesbach (Alberta) 91/338

Edmonton Griesbach (Alberta)

Today we're one riding northeast with Edmonton Griesbach!

Edmonton Griesbach has existed as a riding since the 2012 redistribution, created from Edmonton West and Edmonton—St. Albert. The population of the riding was 112,287 in 2016. The riding contains the neighbourhoods of Griesbach, Dickinsfield, and Beverly. The riding is 10.1% Indigenous, almost double the Edmonton total (5.5%). 

Politically, this seat has been strongly Conservative since 1997, only being under a 5 point margin in 2015 (when now MLA Janis Irwin was the NDP candidate) and 2021. Since 2008, the NDP have been in second place in the riding, never quite getting enough support to take the riding. That was, of course, until this election. This election, the NDP was able to mobilize support and take the riding by a mere 3.4%. The riding is represented by NDP MP Blake Desjarlais.

Back in 1988, this was the first NDP seat in Alberta federally, won by MP Ross Harvey. Harvey would go on to become the leader of the Alberta NDP after his federal defeat in 1993, but would resign his position before facing an election. Harvey would be the only NDP MP elected for 20 years, when Linda Duncan won her seat in Edmonton Strathcona. In 2019, this seat was 5/34 in Alberta and 238/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 7.2/10 - I appreciate the effort, but Griesbach is a pretty small neighbourhood. Maybe a larger one like Montrose or Highlands would work better.

Shape: 6.2/10 - Pretty good, just really not a fan of the choice to give Strathcona Riverdale and the appendages are a little weird.

Individuality: 8.9/10 - Interesting trajectory from the first NDP seat in Alberta to a Conservative base to the second NDP seat in Alberta.

Total: 22.3/30 (74.3%)

Tomorrow we're northeast again with Edmonton Manning!

Edmonton Centre (Alberta) 90/338

 Edmonton Centre (Alberta)

Today we start our Edmonton adventure in Edmonton Centre!

Edmonton Centre has existed as a riding since 2004, previously existing from 1968-1979. The population was 109,941 in 2016. The riding contains the neighbourhoods of Downtown Edmonton, Queen Mary Park, and Woodcroft. The riding is in the city of Edmonton, the second largest city in Alberta, and the provincial legislature is in the riding.

Politically, this is the one of the most Liberal-friendly seats in Edmonton. From 1993-2006, it was held by Liberal MP and deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, winning narrowly over the Conservatives. This trend has continued with Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault, first elected in 2015 narrowly, losing by a larger margin in 2019, and winning narrowly in 2021. As such, this riding will be represented by Liberal MP and Minister of Tourism, Randy Boissonnault.

When elected in 2015, Randy Boissonnault was the first MP from Alberta to be out as gay. The parliament just elected has eight out MP's: two NDP, four Liberals, and two Conservatives. With the cabinet getting sworn in today, three of the four Liberals were given portfolios. Pascal St-Onge was given Sport, Seamus O'Regan was given Labour, and Randy Boissonnault was given Tourism. In 2019, this seat was 1/34 in Alberta and 85/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 10/10 - The riding is literally in the center of Edmonton.

Shape: 8.1/10 - It is very good, just not the biggest fan of some of the small nubs attached to it.

Individuality: 8.4/10 - A Liberal seat in Edmonton? What? And also the notable Anne McLellan helps this riding's case too.

Total: 26.5/30 (88.3%)

Tomorrow we're one riding northeast with Edmonton Griesbach!

Durham (Ontario) 89/338

 Durham (Ontario)

Today, we're in the Greater Toronto Area with Durham!

Durham has existed as a riding since 1904, barring 20 years between 1968 and 1988. The population of the riding was 130,872 in 2016. The population centers are Oshawa (159,458 in 2016, shared with Oshawa), Bowmanville (39,371 in 2016), and Port Perry (9,453 in 2016). This riding has grown 13.4% between censuses, going from 115,000 to 130,000 residents.

Politically, this seat is similar to a lot Greater Vancouver seats in the sense that it has been Conservative for the past 17 years, largely because of the lack of consolidation around one left-of-center party. In 2021, this seat had the second best performance for the NDP in the non-Toronto GTA, only second to neighbouring Oshawa. This seat is currently represented by Conservative Leader and MP Erin O'Toole.

Recognize that name? I thought you would. Erin O'Toole has been in Parliament since 2012, serving as Minister of Veterans Affairs from January to November 2015. In opposition, he was on the front bench, serving in several Shadow Cabinet portfolios. In 2017, he finished third in the Conservative Leadership race. In 2020, he won the leadership, leading the party into their second post-Harper election. In 2019, this seat was 33/121 in Ontario and 93/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.8/10 - Again, a good name, pretty simple, but maybe a little too simple? I'd be happy with Scugog—Clarington.

Shape: 7.3/10 - It's a good shape, the lake is a little wonky, so it's knocked down a tad.

Individuality: 7.5/10 - It is interesting seeing this sort of lack of consolidation in Ontario, this is typically a western issue, and Erin O'Toole being from here is cool too.

Total: 23.6/30 (78.7%)

Tomorrow we're starting our Edmonton adventure with Edmonton Centre!