Labrador (electoral district)

Infobox Canada electoral district
name = Labrador
province = Newfoundland and Labrador


caption = Labrador in relation to other Newfoundland and Labrador ridings
fed-status = active
fed-district-number = 10004
fed-created = 1949
fed-abolished =
fed-election-first = 1949
fed-election-last = 2006
fed-rep = Todd Russell
fed-rep-link =
fed-rep-party = Liberal
fed-rep-party-link = Liberal Party of Canada
demo-census-date = 2006
demo-pop = 26364
demo-electors = 19774
demo-electors-date = 2006
demo-area = 294330
demo-cd = Division No 1
demo-csd = Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador City

Labrador (formerly known as Grand Falls—White Bay—Labrador and Grand Falls—White Bay) is a federal electoral district in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1949.

Demographics

This riding is the least populous in Canada.

Ethnic groups: 65.1% White, 34.9% Native Canadian
Languages: 90.0% English, 1.7% French, 7.9% Other
Religions: 67.4% Protestant, 28.4% Catholic, 3.4% No affiliation
Average income: $27 138

Geography

The district includes all of Labrador, including Belle Isle, North and South Aulatsivik Island.

The neighbouring ridings are Nunavut, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, Manicouagan, and Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte.

According to Elections Canada, the boundaries of this riding for the 39th General Election (2006) are:

: "Consisting of all that part of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador known as Labrador, including Belle Isle."

See the [http://www.elections.ca/scripts/pss/maps/C10004.pdf map of the Labrador riding] .

History

The electoral district was created in 1949 upon the admission of Newfoundland to Canada. Between 1949 and 1988, this district was attached to the Island of Newfoundland, where more than half of its electorate resided. From 1972, it was held by Liberal Bill Rompkey. When he was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1995, a by-election was held, and Lawrence O'Brien was elected. He held the district until his death in 2004.

A by-election was held on May 24, 2005, with the result tipping the balance of the evenly split 38th Parliament. The Liberal candidate, Todd Russell, who was heavily favoured, ended up winning, but with a reduced percentage from the 2004 election.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:

Labrador, 2008 election results

Labrador, 2006 election results

- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes!align="right"|11 415!align="right"|100.0%!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots!align="right"|52!align="right"|0.45%!align="right"
- bgcolor="white"!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout!align="right"|11 467!align="right"|58.4%!align="right"|+4.6%

^ Change is from the 2005 by-election

Labrador, 2005 by-election

On December 16, 2004, MP Lawrence O'Brien died of cancer. Prime Minister Paul Martin called a federal by-election for May 24, 2005. There was a possibility the by-election will not be held because of a non-confidence vote the week prior, that would have toppled the government, sending Canadians to the polls, and would have superseded the by-election. However, the motion failed by one vote, ensuring a by-election in Labrador.

Issues

The seat has traditionally been a Liberal stronghold, and O'Brien always carried the riding with comfortable pluralities. However, the federal Liberals had lost popularity in Atlantic Canada since the 2004 federal election, largely due to disputes with the Progressive Conservative provincial governments of these provinces, especially that of Newfoundland and Labrador over the relationship between offshore petroleum revenues and equalization payments.

Historically, governing parties fare poorly in federal by-elections. However, this by-election was especially significant due to the make-up of the 38th Canadian Parliament. Following the 2004 election, the Liberals combined with the left-leaning New Democratic Party held 154 seats, or exactly half of the 308-seat House of Commons. Furthermore, with former Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish now expelled from that party, the two parties' combined total (prior to O'Brien's death) had been reduced to 153 (or 152 who are eligible to vote since the Speaker was elected as a Liberal). The Liberals were anxious to retain the seat, as its loss would leave the opposition Conservative Party of Canada or the separatist "Bloc Québécois" as the only viable partners for the Liberals to get legislation passed in the House. Former Liberal MP David Kilgour had left the party, further reducing its strength.

Since the general election, it had been suggested that the New Democratic Party refrain from contesting by-elections in seats where the Liberals were strong but the NDP are not, to avoid splitting the vote and thus help improve the chances securing a better position for the NDP in the House. Labrador would certainly be a prime example of such a seat - the NDP finished a distant fourth in the 2004 poll. However, historically the NDP has been adamant in contesting all by-elections, and NDP leader Jack Layton showed little interest in any such proposal. The NDP nominated Frances Fry on April 23 feeling it had a chance in this seat due to the Liberal fall in polls and the fact that the provincial NDP had one of its 2 seats in Labrador.

Results

- bgcolor="white"
align="right" colspan=3|Majority
align="right"|2023
align="right"|19.1
align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
align="right"|10 564
align="right"|54.1
align="right"|+9.3
- bgcolor="white"
align="left" colspan=2|Liberal hold.
align="right"|Swing
align="right"|-13.6
align="right"

In the end, the Liberals picked up an easy victory, as expected, but while their actual vote total did not go down by much, their percentage of the vote went down over 10 points from the previous election as turnout was over 9% more than in the 2004 election. This high turnout is virtually unheard of for by-elections which normally have extremely poor turnouts. The additional voters appear to have been brought out by the tense national political situation and mostly voted for the Conservatives who picked up nearly 17 points and the New Democrats who also increased their vote total.

Labrador, 2004 election

Despite being ill, incumbent Lawrence O'Brien won in a massive landslide.

- bgcolor="white"
align="right" colspan=3|Majority
align="right"|4124
align="right"|46.5
align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
align="right"|8877
align="right"|44.8
align="right"
- bgcolor="white"
align="left" colspan=2|Liberal hold.
align="right"|Swing
align="right"|-2.0
align="right"

Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals.

Labrador, 1988 - 2000

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 10 368

Changes for the Canadian Alliance party are based on the 1997 results of its predecessor, the Reform Party.

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 12 212

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 9963

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 11 314

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 13 320

Grand Falls—White Bay—Labrador, 1952 - 1987

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 28 668

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 29 487

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 29 595

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 23 148

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 24 765

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 20 480

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 13 355

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 25 272

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 25 803

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 25 019

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 26 457

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 15 491

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 18 637

Grand Falls—White Bay, 1949 - 1952

-
colspan="3" align="right" | Total valid votes
align="right" | 14 180

See also

* List of Canadian federal electoral districts
* Past Canadian electoral districts

External links

* [http://www.elections.ca/scripts/pss/Map.aspx?L=e&ED=10004&EV=99&EV_TYPE=6&PC=&Prov=NL&ProvID=10&MapID=&QID=-1&PageID=27&TPageID= Labrador riding] from Elections Canada
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Det&Include=Y&rid=244 Riding history for Grand Falls—White Bay (1949–1952)] from the Library of Parliament
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Det&Include=Y&rid=245 Riding history for Grand Falls—White Bay—Labrador (1952–1987)] from the Library of Parliament
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Det&Include=Y&rid=908 Riding history for Labrador (1987– )] from the Library of Parliament
* [http://www.elections.ca/scripts/webpep/fin/welcome.aspx?lang=e Election Financial Reports] from Elections Canada