Thunder Bay - Superior North

This northern Ontario riding skirts the north shore of Lake Superior from Thunder Bay to Marathon and runs north to the Albany River. The riding includes the part of the city of Thunder Bay south of Pole Line Road, Thunder Bay Expressway and Main Street.

The communities of Nipigon, Geraldton and Terrace Bay, as well as several First Nations reserves, are in the riding. The aboriginal population is 11 per cent, according to the 2006 census.

Thunder Bay is a major grain port. The service sector, manufacturing, forestry, and pulp and paper are key sources of jobs. Major employers include Provincial Papers and Lakehead University. Average family income is $80,012 and unemployment is 8.5 per cent.

The riding of Thunder Bay-Nipigon was established in 1976 from portions of Port Arthur and Thunder Bay ridings. In 1996, boundaries were redrawn, taking in part of Cochrane-Superior. The name changed to Thunder Bay-Superior North in 1998. In 2004, part of Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding was added in the west.

Population: 82,589 (2006 census; a decrease of 1.3% since 2001)

Political History

The 2006 election witnessed a similar matchup and outcome as the previous vote. Liberal Joe Comuzzi took on New Democrat Bruce Hyer and won. Comuzzi is serving his sixth term in office.

In December 2003, then prime minister Paul Martin appointed Comuzzi minister in charge of federal economic development initiatives for Northern Ontario. He had won three terms in the former riding of Thunder Bay-Nipigon.

From 1935 to 1957, the MP for Thunder Bay-Nipigon was C.D. Howe, the Mackenzie King-era "minister of everything" who helped create the CBC and directed Canada's wartime munitions production and post-war reconstruction. In 1957, Howe lost to a school teacher, Doug Fisher of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, who held the riding until 1965, through the birth of the New Democratic Party of Canada in 1961.

Liberal Bob Andras, who was minister of state for urban affairs, minister of consumer and corporate affairs, minister of manpower and immigration and president of the Treasury Board, was MP from 1965 to 1979.

Liberal Jack Masters won in 1980. In 1984, he was defeated by New Democrat Ernie Epp.

Port Arthur:

• 1935-53 inclusive - LIB
• 1957-63 inclusive - CCF/NDP
• 1965-74 inclusive - LIB

Thunder Bay-Nipigon/Thunder Bay-Superior North:

• 1979, 1980 - LIB
• 1984 - NDP
• Since 1988 - LIB