Acadie—Bathurst

Acadie—Bathurst (formerly Gloucester) is a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1867. Its population in 2001 was 76,392.

Until 1997, the riding was largely held by the Liberal Party thanks to strong support from the francophone Acadian population. There is also a notable Red Tory tendency in the riding that enabled the former Progressive Conservative Party to win on occasion.

In the 1997 federal election, the New Democratic Party's Yvon Godin won an unexpected victory over powerful Liberal cabinet minister Doug Young, mostly due to unpopular Liberal cuts to Employment Insurance. Godin has held the riding ever since.

In the 2004 election, he ran against Serge Rouselle of the Liberals, Joel Bernard, of the Conservatives, and Mario Lanteigne of the Greens. Despite stiff competition, the popular Godin retained by a wide margin on election day.

In the 2011 election, the Green candidate, Mathieu Laplante, had issues with submitting his candidate paperwork^[1] and was not on the ballot. Godin benefited from this and the "Orange Crush" effect, to defeat the Liberal and Conservative candidates with the highest vote percentage since 1949.

1 Geography
2 Political geography
3 History
- 3.1 Members of Parliament
4 Election results
- 4.1 Acadie–Bathurst
- 4.2 Gloucester
5 See also
6 References
7 Sources

Geography

The district includes eastern Gloucester County, and the communities along Nepisiguit Bay. The neighbouring ridings are Miramichi (electoral district) and Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

Political geography

MP Yvon Godin's personal popularity ensured dominance throughout the riding for the NDP. The Conservatives won just two polls in the Bathurst area and while the Liberals won most of the mobile polls, they won just one non-mobile poll, in Inkerman.^[2]

History

The electoral district was created at confederation in 1867, and was known as "Gloucester" until its name was changed in 1990.

In 2004, there were some legal problems regarding the 2003 boundaries. The following is from the Elections Canada website:

In May 2004, the Federal Court of Canada made its decision in Raîche v. Canada (Attorney General), concerning a portion of the electoral boundary between the ridings of Miramichi and Acadie—Bathurst. The Court held that, in transferring certain parts of parishes from the riding of Acadie–Bathurst to Miramichi, the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for New Brunswick erred in its application of the rules governing the preparation of its recommendations. The new boundaries commission was created under Part I of the Inquiries Act in response to this court decision.

The current boundaries reverted back to the ones used in the 1996 representation after the 2006 election.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following Members of Parliament:

Parliament	Years		Party
Gloucester
1st	1867–1872	Timothy Anglin	Liberal
2nd	1872–1874
3rd	1874–1877
3rd	1877–1878
4th	1878–1882
5th	1882–1887	Kennedy Francis Burns	Conservative
6th	1887–1891
7th	1891–1894
7th	1894–1896	Théotime Blanchard	Conservative
8th	1896–1900	Théotime Blanchard	Conservative
9th	1900–1904	Onésiphore Turgeon	Liberal
10th	1904–1908
11th	1908–1911
12th	1911–1917
13th	1917–1921
14th	1921–1922
14th	1922–1925	Jean George Robichaud	Liberal
15th	1925–1926	Jean George Robichaud	Liberal
16th	1926	Peter Veniot	Liberal
16th	1926–1930
17th	1930–1935
18th	1935–1936
18th	1936–1940	Clarence Joseph Veniot	Liberal
19th	1940–1945	Clarence Joseph Veniot	Liberal
20th	1945–1949	Clovis-Thomas Richard	Liberal
21st	1949–1952	Clovis-Thomas Richard	Liberal
21st	1952–1953	Albany Robichaud	Progressive Conservative
22nd	1953–1957	Hédard Robichaud	Liberal
23rd	1957–1958
24th	1958–1962
25th	1962–1963
26th	1963–1965
27th	1965–1966
28th	1968–1972	Herb Breau	Liberal
29th	1972–1974
30th	1974–1979
31st	1979–1980
32nd	1980–1984
33rd	1984–1988	Roger Clinch	Progressive Conservative
34th	1988–1993	Doug Young	Liberal
Acadie–Bathurst
35th	1993–1997	Doug Young	Liberal
36th	1997–2000	Yvon Godin	New Democratic
37th	2000–2004
38th	2004–2006
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011
41st	2011–present

Election results

Acadie–Bathurst

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Yvon Godin	32,067	69.69	+12.27
	Conservative	Louis Robichaud	7,456	16.20	-2.39
	Liberal	Jean Marie Gionet	6,491	14.11	-7.86
Total valid votes/Expense limit			46,014	100.00		$82,557
Total rejected ballots			595	1.33	+0.21
Turnout			46,609	70.71	+2.39
Eligible voters			65,915
	NDP hold		Swing	+7.33

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Yvon Godin	25,849	57.53	+7.63	$57,377
	Liberal	Odette Robichaud	9,850	21.92	-8.79	$29,447
	Conservative	Jean-Guy Dubé	8,331	18.54	+1.68	$66,620
	Green	Michelle Aubin	904	2.01	+0.63	$29
Total valid votes/Expense limit			44,934	100.00		$80,066
Total rejected ballots			507	1.12	+0.09
Turnout			45,441	68.32	-7.14
Electors on the lists			66,509
	NDP hold		Swing	+8.21

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Yvon Godin	25,195	49.90	-4.03	$70,692
	Liberal	Marcelle Mersereau	15,504	30.71	-1.96	$64,142
	Conservative	Serge Savoie	8,513	16.86	+5.92	$64,206
	Green	Philippe Rouselle	699	1.38	-1.07	$807
	Independent	Eric Landry	362	0.72	-	$2,614
	Independent	Ulric Degrace	219	0.43	-
Total valid votes/Expense limit			50,492	100.00		$74,710
Total rejected ballots			523	1.03	-0.15
Turnout			51,015	75.46	+5.08
Electors on the lists			67,608
	NDP hold		Swing	-1.04

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Yvon Godin	23,857	53.93	+11.57	$62,211
	Liberal	Serge Rousselle	14,452	32.67	-12.90	$61,409
	Conservative	Joel Bernard	4,841	10.94	-1.32	$51,339
	Green	Mario Lanteigne	1,085	2.45	-	$6,241
Total valid votes/Expense limit			44,235	100.00		$71,582
Total rejected ballots			527	1.18	-0.04
Turnout			44,762	70.38	-4.99
Electors on the lists			63,603
	NDP hold		Swing	+12.2

Change from 2000 is based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals.

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Yvon Godin	23,568	46.61	+6.08	$57,177
	Liberal	Bernard Thériault	20,362	40.27	+4.91	$58,623
	Progressive Conservative	Alcide Leger	4,321	8.55	-15.56	$36,600
	Canadian Alliance	Jean Gauvin	2,314	4.58	-	$45,973
Total valid votes/Expense limit			50,565	100.00		$63,209
Total rejected ballots			624	1.22	-1.25
Turnout			51,189	75.37	-3.28
Electors on the lists			67,918
	NDP hold		Swing	+0.59

Canadian federal election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democrat	Yvon Godin	21,113	40.53	+34.57	$56,390
	Liberal	Doug Young	18,421	35.36	-30.99	$53,440
	Progressive Conservative	Norma Landry	12,560	24.11	-3.58	$51,562
Total valid votes/Expense limit			52,094	100.00		$60,877
Total rejected ballots			1,318	2.47
Turnout			53,412	78.65
Electors on the lists			67,912
	NDP gain from Liberal		Swing	+32.8

Canadian federal election, 1993
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Doug Young	26,782	66.35	+14.60	$45,888
	Progressive Conservative	Luce-Andrée Gauthier	11,175	27.69	-15.04	$53,402
	New Democrat	Kim Gallant	2,406	5.96	+0.43	$1,508
Total valid votes/Expense limit			40,363	100.00		$53,496
	Liberal hold		Swing	+14.8

Gloucester

Canadian federal election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Doug Young	20,251	51.75	+13.37
	Progressive Conservative	Jean Gauvin	16,721	42.73	-12.39
	New Democrat	Serge Robichaud	2,163	5.53	+0.40
Total valid votes			39,135	100.00
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative.		Swing	+12.88

Canadian federal election, 1984
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Roger Clinch	23,524	55.12	+35.51
	Liberal	Herb Breau	16,378	38.38	-25.29
	New Democrat	Valentine Ward	2,188	5.13	-7.71
	Independent	Fernand Losier	584	1.37
Total valid votes			42,674	100.00
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+30.40

Canadian federal election, 1980
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herb Breau	22,229	63.67	+12.06
	Progressive Conservative	Arthur Savoie	6,846	19.61	-19.33
	New Democrat	Kevin O'Connell	4,484	12.84	+3.39
	Rhino	Jules César Boudreau	736	2.11
	Rhino	Amédé "le Terrible" Boucher	362	1.04
	Not affiliated	Rose-Hélène Aubé	197	0.56
	Marxist–Leninist	Gary Zatzman	59	0.17
Total valid votes			34,913	100.00
	Liberal hold		Swing	+15.7%

Canadian federal election, 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herb Breau	18,387	51.61	-5.44
	Progressive Conservative	Gastien Godin	13,872	38.94	+15.79
	New Democrat	Kevin O'Connell	3,366	9.45	+3.51
Total valid votes			35,625	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1974
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herb Breau	16,195	57.05	+6.44
	Progressive Conservative	Gérard Arseneau	6,571	23.15	-1.47
	Social Credit	Lomer Basque	3,935	13.86	-2.12
	New Democrat	Yvon Guignard	1,685	5.94	+4.08
Total valid votes			28,386	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1972
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herb Breau	14,212	50.61	-4.42
	Progressive Conservative	Paul Duval	6,914	24.62	-15.81
	Social Credit	Lomer Basque	4,487	15.98	Ø
	Not affiliated	Percy W. Cormier	1,109	3.95
	Independent	Mathilda Blanchard	839	2.99
	New Democrat	Joe Corbin	521	1.86	-2.68
Total valid votes			28,082	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1968
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herb Breau	12,196	55.03	-5.58
	Progressive Conservative	Frédéric Arsenault	,8960	40.43	+13.17
	New Democrat	Florian Robichaud	1,007	4.54	-7.59
Total valid votes			22,163	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1965
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hédard Robichaud	14,121	60.61	+3.15
	Progressive Conservative	J. Léo Hachey	6,351	27.26	+7.82
	New Democrat	Martin Kierans	2,826	12.13
Total valid votes			23,298	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1963
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hédard Robichaud	13,344	57.46	+0.40
	Social Credit	Joseph Dubé	5,365	23.10
	Progressive Conservative	Leo Ferguson	4,515	19.44	-23.50
Total valid votes			23,224	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1962
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hédard Robichaud	13,519	57.06	+4.23
	Progressive Conservative	Antonio Robichaud	10,174	42.94	-4.23
Total valid votes			23,693	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1958
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hédard Robichaud	13,112	52.83	-5.04
	Progressive Conservative	J. Léo Hachey	11,705	47.17	+5.04
Total valid votes			24,817	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1957
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hédard Robichaud	13,052	57.87	+0.28
	Progressive Conservative	J. Léo Hachey	9,502	42.13	+0.91
Total valid votes			22,554	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1953
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hédard Robichaud	13,330	57.59	+9.89
	Progressive Conservative	Albany Robichaud	9,542	41.22	-11.08
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alphonse Landry	276	1.19
Total valid votes			23,148	100.00

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
By-election on 26 May 1952 On Clovis-Thomas Richard's acceptance of an office of emolument under the Crown, 5 March 1952
	Progressive Conservative	Albany Robichaud	11,245	52.30	+22.08
	Liberal	Hédard Robichaud	10,256	47.70	-22.08
Total valid votes			21,501	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1949
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Clovis-Thomas Richard	14,759	69.78	+7.35
	Progressive Conservative	J.L. Albert Robichaud	6,391	30.22	-4.10
Total valid votes			21,150	100.00

Change for Progressive Conservative candidate Albany Robichaud from 1945 are based on his results running as an Independent.

Canadian federal election, 1945
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Clovis-Thomas Richard	11,683	62.43	-3.31
	Independent	Albany Robichaud	6,423	34.32	+0.09
	Co-operative Commonwealth	François-Xavier Blanchard	609	3.25
Total valid votes			18,715	100.00

Change for Independent candidate Albany Robichaud from 1940 are based on his results running as a National Government candidate.

Canadian federal election, 1940
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Clarence Joseph Veniot	10,451	65.74	-9.22
	National Government	Albany Robichaud	5,447	34.26	+15.47
Total valid votes			15,898	100.00

The "National Government" was the temporary name of the Conservative Party for the 1940 elections, and changes from 1935 are based on the results of the Conservative Party.

Note: Change in popular vote is calculated from popular vote in the 1935 general election.

Party		Candidate	Votes
By-election on 17 August 1936 On Peter Veniot's death, 6 July 1936
	Liberal	Clarence Joseph Veniot	acclaimed

Canadian federal election, 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Peter Veniot	11,816	74.96	+24.12
	Conservative	Albany Robichaud	2,962	18.79	-30.37
	Reconstruction	Hector Poirier	985	6.25
Total valid votes			15,763	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1930
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Peter Veniot	7,716	50.84	-4.95
	Conservative	Albany Robichaud	7,460	49.16	+4.95
Total valid votes			15,176	100.00

Party		Candidate	Votes
By-election on 2 November 1926 On Peter Veniot's acceptance of an office of emolument under the Crown, 5 October 1926
	Liberal	Peter Veniot	acclaimed

Canadian federal election, 1926
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Peter Veniot	7,992	55.79	+1.53
	Conservative	Joseph S. Dumas	6,333	44.21	-1.53
Total valid votes			14,325	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1925
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jean George Robichaud	6,254	54.26	-18.71
	Conservative	Joseph Benoît Hachey	5,272	45.74	+18.71
Total valid votes			11,526	100.00

Note: Change in popular vote is calculated from popular vote in the 1921 general election.

Party		Candidate	Votes
By-election on 20 November 1922 On Onésiphore Turgeon's acceptance of an office of emolument under the Crown, 26 October 1922
	Liberal	Jean George Robichaud	acclaimed

Canadian federal election, 1921
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Onésiphore Turgeon	7,671	72.97
	Conservative	Joseph Edward de Grace	2,842	27.03
Total valid votes			10,513	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1917
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Opposition	Onésiphore Turgeon	acclaimed

Canadian federal election, 1911
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Onésiphore Turgeon	3,172	59.27	+4.06
	Conservative	Theobald M. Burns	2,180	40.73	-4.06
Total valid votes			5,352	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1908
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Onésiphore Turgeon	2,581	55.21	-8.53
	Conservative	Theobald M. Burns	2,094	44.79	+8.53
Total valid votes			4,675	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1904
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Onésiphore Turgeon	2,705	63.74	+3.78
	Conservative	Théotime Blanchard	1,539	36.26	+2.14
Total valid votes			4,244	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1900
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Onésiphore Turgeon	2,311	59.96	+30.14
	Conservative	Théotime Blanchard	1,315	34.12	-16.81
	Independent	R. Carr Harris	228	5.92
Total valid votes			3,854	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1896
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Théotime Blanchard	1,947	50.93	-4.36
	Liberal	Onésiphore Turgeon	1,140	29.82	-14.89
	Independent	Robert Young	736	19.25
Total valid votes			3,823	100.00

Note: Change in popular vote is calculated from popular vote in the 1891 general election.

Party		Candidate	Votes
By-election on 5 May 1894 On Kennedy Burns being called to the Senate, 21 March 1893
	Conservative	Théotime Blanchard	acclaimed

Canadian federal election, 1891
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kennedy Francis Burns	1,943	55.29	-0.83
	Liberal	W.A. Landry	1,571	44.71	+0.83
Total valid votes			,3514	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1887
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kennedy Francis Burns	1,908	56.12	+3.93
	Liberal	Narc A. Landry	1,492	43.88	+20.49
Total valid votes			3,400	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1882
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Kennedy Francis Burns	1,205	52.19
	Unknown	Onésiphore Turgeon	564	24.43
	Liberal	Timothy Anglin	540	23.39
Total valid votes			2,309	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1878
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Timothy Anglin	acclaimed

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
By-election on 2 July 1877 On Timothy Anglin's resignation
	Liberal	Timothy Anglin	1,185	58.00
	Unknown	Onésiphore Turgeon	858	42.00
Total valid votes			2,043	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1874
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Timothy Anglin	acclaimed

Canadian federal election, 1872
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Timothy Anglin	1,436	80.81	+19.55
	Unknown	? DesBrisay	339	19.08
	Unknown	? MacKay	2	0.11
Total valid votes			1,777	100.00

Canadian federal election, 1867
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Timothy Anglin	1,061	61.26
	Unknown	John Mehan	671	38.74
Total valid votes			1,732	100.00

References

^ "No Green Candidate for Acadie-Bathurst Riding". Max 104.9. 2001-04-14. http://www.max1049.ca/localnews/Story.aspx?id=1402185. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
^ "Riding « Pundits' Guide to Canadian Federal Elections". Punditsguide.ca. http://www.punditsguide.ca/riding/?riding=969&pane=3. Retrieved 2011-04-15.

Sources

Federal ridings in New Brunswick

Conservative	Fredericton • Fundy Royal • Madawaska—Restigouche • Miramichi • Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe • New Brunswick Southwest • Saint John • Tobique—Mactaquac

Liberal	Beauséjour

New Democratic	Acadie—Bathurst

Federal ridings in Atlantic Canada

Newfoundland and Labrador	Avalon • Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor • Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte • Labrador • Random—Burin—St. George's • St. John's East • St. John's South—Mount Pearl

Nova Scotia	Cape Breton—Canso • Central Nova • Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley • Dartmouth—Cole Harbour • Halifax • Halifax West • Kings—Hants • Sackville—Eastern Shore • South Shore—St. Margaret's • Sydney—Victoria • West Nova

Prince Edward Island	Cardigan • Charlottetown • Egmont • Malpeque

New Brunswick	Acadie—Bathurst • Beauséjour • Fredericton • Fundy Royal • Madawaska—Restigouche • Miramichi • Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe • New Brunswick Southwest • Saint John • Tobique—Mactaquac