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Canada Votes 2008

Results, Ridings and Candidates

Sault Ste. Marie

2008 Results

Sault Ste. Marie
Party Candidate Votes Status
Updated: Nov. 7, 2008 5:00 PM EST 208/208 polls
NDP Tony Martin 16,572 Elected
CON Cameron Ross 15,431
LIB Paul Bichler 6,870
GRN Luke Macmichael 1,774
FPP Cory McLeod 235
ML Mike Taffarel 81

Unofficial results were updated at the time shown following judicial recounts in six ridings. For more recent results, visit Elections Canada. The CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. External links will open in a new window.

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This Northern Ontario riding takes in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, St. Joseph Island and part of the district of Algoma.

The riding runs from the North Channel of Lake Huron in the south to Whitefish Bay and Lake Superior in the northwest, as far as the Montreal River.

Algoma University College and Sault Ste. Marie Airport are in the riding, as well as the reserves of Garden River and Goulais Bay. Aboriginals make up almost 10 per cent of the population.

Retail trade is the largest sector of the local economy followed by manufacturing, with Algoma Steel the major industrial employer. The service sector and government services are other major employers. Average family income is $74,363 and unemployment is 8.3 per cent.

According to the 2006 census, 20 per cent of the population is of Italian origin and just under four per cent is francophone.

The riding was created in 1966 from part of Algoma West. In 1996, part of Algoma-Manitoulin was added. In 2004, the northern boundary moved north to the Montreal River.

Population: 89,028 (2006 census; an increase of 0.7% since 2001)

Political History

In 2006, New Democrat Tony Martin earned a third term in office when he defeated Liberal Christian Provenzano by 2,154 votes. Provenzano was the nephew of the late Carmen Provenzano, who in 2004 was also defeated by Martin in a tight race, with a difference of only 752 votes.

Carmen Provenzano was first elected in 1997. He succeeded another Liberal, Ron Irwin, who was minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

Liberal G.E. Nixon held Algoma West from 1940 to 1965 inclusive. In 1968, Liberal Terry Murphy won. New Democrat Cyril Symes won in 1972, 1974 and 1979, but lost to Irwin in 1980.

In 1984, PC Jim Kelleher served a single term and was appointed minister of International Trade and solicitor general under Brian Mulroney. In 1988, the riding swung back to the New Democrats, when Steve Butland went to Ottawa for a single term.

  • 1968 - LIB
  • 1972, 1974, 1979 - NDP
  • 1980 - LIB
  • 1984 - PC
  • 1988 - NDP
  • 1993, 1997, 2000 - LIB
  • 2004, 2006 - NDP