Random - Burin - St. George's

This riding looks to the sea, stretching along Newfoundland's bleak south coast and taking in more than 100 isolated fishing outports. Major communities include Stephenville, Marystown (home of the Marystown Shipyard), Grand Bank, Clarenville, Burgeo and the ferry and freighting centre of Channel—Port-aux-Basques.

Most of the riding’s residents are poor. According to the 2006 census, the average family income is the third-lowest in Canada, at $52,597. Unemployment was 26.4 per cent, the highest in Canada. About seven per cent of residents 25 or over have a university certificate or degree.

From 1976 until 2004, this riding was known simply as Burin-St.George's. The new name was applied after redistribution added more than 10,000 residents from Bonavista-Trinity-Conception, along with a handful from Gander-Grand Falls and Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte.

Population: 71,219 (2006 census; a decrease of 6.4% since 2001)

Political History

In 2006, Liberal incumbent Bill Matthews maintained his position as MP when he defeated Conservative Cynthia Downey by 1,420 votes.

Matthews won by more than 3,000 votes to hold onto this riding in the 2004 election. Matthews turned Liberal in 1999; he had come to power as a Tory in 1997 by unseating Liberal Roger Simmons. It was Simmons's second ouster from Parliament: he had won the riding in a 1979 byelection, lost to Tory Joe Price in 1984 and then regained office in 1988. From 1949 to 1979, Liberals won every election here.

• 1979, 1979 byelection, 1980 - LIB
• 1984 - PC
• 1988, 1993 - LIB
• 1997 - PC
• 2000, 2004, 2006 - LIB