Acadie - Bathurst

This riding is in the province's northeast corner, bordered to the north by Baie des Chaleurs and in the east by the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It includes the Acadian Peninsula and the land along Chaleur Bay and the gulf. Major communities are Bathurst, Beresford, Caraquet, Shippagan, Tracadie-Sheila, Petit-Rocher and Lamèque Island.

According to the 2006 census, 84 per cent of the population is francophone — the highest proportion of any riding outside Québec. Less than one per cent of residents are immigrants. The average family income is $56,829 and unemployment stands at 12.6 per cent.

In 1996, about a quarter of the old Restigouche-Chaleur riding was added to Acadie-Bathurst. In the 2004 redistribution, about eight per cent of the riding was carved away, but a court challenge and review by the Electoral Boundaries Commission restored the boundaries set in 1996.

Population: 78,948 (2006 census; a decrease of 4.8% since 2001)

Political History

New Democrat Yvon Godin has held this seat since 1997, when the two-term incumbent, Liberal Doug Young, was unseated. Godin won convincingly in 2006, defeating Liberal Marcel Mersereau.

Prior to Young, this seat was held by Tory Roger Clinch. He had come to office in 1984 by handily beating five-term Liberal incumbent Herb Breau. Breau had been preceded by a six-term incumbent Liberal, Hedard Robichaud.

The riding was established in 1867 as Gloucester. Its name was changed on July 28, 1990 to Acadie-Bathurst.

• 1867, 72, 74, 78 - LIB
• 1882-1896 - CON
• 1900-1949 inclusive - LIB
• 1952 byelection - PC
• 1953-1980 inclusive - LIB
• 1984 - PC
• 1988, 1993 - LIB
• 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 - NDP