New Brunswick Southwest

This large rural riding is in New Brunswick's southwest corner, bounded on the east by the U.S. and in the south by the Bay of Fundy. Part of the northern border is the Saint John River. Communities include Gagetown, Grand Bay-Westfield, St. Andrews, Cambridge-Narrows, Tracy, St. Stephen, St. George, McAdam and part of Woodstock. Deer, Campobello and Grand Manan islands are here, as is the Kingsclear reserve.

The 2006 census shows that slightly more than three per cent of the residents are francophone and slightly more than five per cent are immigrants.

Manufacturing and the service sector are the major sources of employment.. Also important are fishing, forestry and agriculture. The average family income is $63,877 and unemployment is 11 per cent.

The riding was formed in 2004 by taking 90 per cent of Charlotte-New Brunswick Southwest and adding in 11 per cent of Fundy-Royal. Charlotte-New Brunswick Southwest had been created in 1996, with the majority of its residents coming from the old Carleton-Charlotte riding.

Population: 63,232 (2006 census; a decrease of 0.5% since 2001)

Political History

Tories have dominated this area in every race since 1968, save for one.

That election was in 1993, when Liberal Harold Culbert squeaked past the one-term incumbent, Tory Greg Thompson, by 811 votes.

It was sweet revenge for Culbert, who'd been beaten by Thompson in 1988. But Thompson turned the tables in 1997, unseating Culbert by more than 6,000 votes.

Since then, Thompson has held the seat from the Liberals with similarly large margins; he won the 2006 race with almost 55 per cent of the vote. He defeated Winston Gamblin in 2000 and Jim Dunlap in 2004.

Charlotte:

• 1867, 1872 - CON
• 1874-96 - LIB
• 1900, 1904 - CON
• 1908 - LIB
• 1911-30 inclusive - CON
• 1935-57 inclusive - LIB
• 1958 - PC
• 1962, 1963, 1965 - LIB

Carleton-Charlotte:

• 1968-88 inclusive - PC
• 1993 - LIB

Charlotte:

• 1997, 2000 - PC

New Brunswick Southwest

• 2004, 2006 - CON