Riding Profiles

CALGARY-MONTROSE (17)

Riding Profile:

This east-central Calgary riding is bordered on the east by the city limits, on the south by 17th Avenue, on the west by 52nd Street and on the north mostly by 16th and 32nd Avenues. The riding was largely unchanged by this year's redistribution.

Of the residents here, 42.5 per cent were born in Alberta, while 31.7 per cent are immigrants — Alberta's third-highest rate. Almost eight per cent of residents are Muslim, seven per cent are Buddhist and four per cent are Sikh. Just under two-thirds of Calgary-Montrose constituents speak English at home. Manufacturing is the major employer, followed by retail. The average household income, at $59,691, is less than the provincial average, while 16.7 per cent of residents are considered low income. Single-parent families make up 14.1 per cent of households in the riding.

Political History:

Calgary-Montrose has been Progressive Conservative since its creation in 1986. Incumbent Hung Pham first won office in 1993, with a 2,274-vote margin over Liberal Keong Yap. In 1997, Pham beat Liberal Diane Danielson by 1,980 votes, and in 2001 he defeated her husband, Art Danielson, 6,329 votes to 2,093. Pham defeated him again in 2004, but not as handily — 3,318 votes to 1,651. Pham's predecessor, Rick Orman, won the 1986 and 1989 elections by more than 2,000 votes, and held several cabinet posts.

In 2004, voter turnout was 29.6 per cent.