Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador electoral district
Labrador in relation to other Newfoundland and Labrador ridings (2013 boundaries)
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Yvonne Jones Liberal
District created	1949
First contested	1949
Last contested	2021
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2021)[1]	26,655
Electors (2019)	20,016
Area (km²)[1]	294,330
Pop. density (per km²)	0.09
Census division(s)	Division No. 10, Division No. 11
Census subdivision(s)	Cartwright, Charlottetown, Division No. 10, Subdivision A, Division No. 10, Subdivision B, Division No. 10, Subdivision C, Division No. 10, Subdivision D, Division No. 10, Subdivision E, Division No. 11, Subdivision C, Division No. 11, Subdivision E, Forteau, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Hopedale, Labrador City, L'Anse-au-Clair, L'Anse-au-Loup, Makkovik, Mary's Harbour, Nain, Natuashish, North West River, Pinware, Port Hope Simpson, Postville, Red Bay, Rigolet, Sheshatshiu, St. Lewis, Wabush, West St. Modeste

Labrador (formerly known as Grand Falls—White Bay—Labrador and Grand Falls—White Bay) is a federal electoral district in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1949.

The riding covers all of Labrador and with just 26,000 people located in the riding it is the least populous in Canada.^[2] From 2005 to 2011, the riding was represented by Liberal MP Todd Russell. He was defeated by Conservative Peter Penashue in the 2011 federal election.^[3] Following allegations of irregularities in his campaign spending, Penashue announced on March 14, 2013 that he would resign his seat and run again as a candidate in a new by-election.^[4][5] Penashue subsequently lost the by-election to Liberal candidate Yvonne Jones. Jones was re-elected in the 2015, 2019, and 2021 federal elections. The riding is viewed as a Liberal stronghold.

The riding contains a large indigenous population, including the Inuit self-governing territory of Nunatsiavut, as well as two Innu reserves Sheshatshiu and Natuashish. The Voisey's Bay nickel mine, near Nain, is also in the riding.^[6][7][8]

All six indigenous communities on the North Coast are inaccessible by road and may be reached only by air or sea.^[9]

Demographics

This riding is the least populous in Canada. Citing the region's highly distinct identity and seeing it as a community of interest they have the legal duty to respect, successive electoral boundary commissions have used their ability to make exceptions to the general electoral quotient to maintain Labrador as a separate riding.

In earlier representation orders, it was joined with communities on the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland.

Ethnic groups: 65.1% White, 34.9% Native Canadian
Languages (2016): 86.4% English, 5.6% Innu, 2.3% Naskapi, 1.5% French, 1.4% Inuktitut, 1.3% Tagalog, 0.1% German, 0.1% Panjabi, 0.1% Spanish^[10]
Religions: 67.4% Protestant, 28.4% Catholic, 3.4% No affiliation
Average income: $27 138

Geography

The district includes all of Labrador, including Belle Isle, North and South Aulatsivik Island.

The neighbouring ridings are Nunavut, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, Manicouagan, and Long Range Mountains.

According to Elections Canada, the boundaries of this riding for the 39th General Election (2006) are:

"Consisting of all that part of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador known as Labrador, including Belle Isle."

The 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution concluded that the electoral boundaries of Labrador should be preserved with no boundary changes for future elections.^[11]

See the map of the Labrador riding.

History

The old riding of Grand Falls--White Bay--Labrador in the 1966 representation order.

The electoral district was created in 1949 upon the admission of Newfoundland to Canada. Between 1949 and 1988, this district was attached to the Island of Newfoundland, where more than half of its electorate resided. Liberal MP Bill Rompkey held the seat from 1972 till his appointment to the Senate of Canada in 1995. Lawrence D. O'Brien was later elected in a by-election and held the district until his death in 2004.

A by-election was held on May 24, 2005, with the result tipping the balance of the evenly split 38th Parliament. The Liberal candidate, Todd Russell, who was heavily favoured, ended up winning, but with a reduced percentage from the 2004 election.

On December 16, 2004, MP Lawrence O'Brien died of cancer, the next year Prime Minister Paul Martin called a by-election for May 24, 2005. There was a possibility the by-election would not be held because of a non-confidence vote the week prior. The non-confidence vote would have toppled the government sending Canadians to the polls, which would have superseded the by-election. However, the motion failed by one vote, ensuring the by-election.

The seat has traditionally been a Liberal stronghold, and O'Brien always carried the riding with comfortable pluralities. However, the federal Liberals had lost popularity in Atlantic Canada since the 2004 federal election largely because of disputes with the Progressive Conservative provincial governments of these provinces, especially that of Newfoundland and Labrador over the relationship between offshore oil revenues and equalization payments.

Historically, governing parties fare poorly in federal by-elections. However, this by-election was especially significant because of the make-up of the 38th Canadian Parliament. Following the 2004 election, the Liberals and the New Democratic Party held 154 seats together, or exactly half of the 308-seat House of Commons. After Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was expelled from that party, the two parties' combined total (prior to O'Brien's death) had been reduced to 153 (or 152 who are eligible to vote since the Speaker was elected as a Liberal). The Liberals were anxious to retain the seat, as its loss would have left the opposition Conservative Party of Canada or the Bloc Québécois as the only viable partners for the Liberals to get legislation passed in the House. Former Liberal MP David Kilgour had left the party, further reducing its strength.

Since the general election, it had been suggested that the New Democratic Party refrain from contesting by-elections in seats where the Liberals were strong but the NDP are not, to avoid splitting the vote and thus help improve the chances securing a better position for the NDP in the House. Labrador would certainly be a prime example of such a seat — the NDP finished a distant fourth in the 2004 election. However, historically the NDP has been adamant in contesting all by-elections, and NDP leader Jack Layton showed little interest in any such proposal. The NDP nominated Frances Fry on April 23 feeling it had a chance in this seat because of the Liberal fall in polls and the fact that the provincial NDP had one of its two seats in Labrador.

In the end, the Liberals picked up an easy victory, as expected, but while their actual vote total did not go down by much, their percentage of the vote went down over 10 points from the previous election as turnout was over 9% more than in the 2004 election. This high turnout is virtually unheard of for by-elections which normally have extremely poor turnouts. The additional voters appear to have been brought out by the tense national political situation and mostly voted for the Conservatives who picked up nearly 17 percentage points and the New Democrats who also increased their vote total.

Election results

Labrador

Graph of election results in Labrador (minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)

2021 results by polling area

2021 general election

2021 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Yvonne Jones	4,119	42.67	+0.2	$69,064.75
	Conservative	Shane Dumaresque	2,930	30.35	-0.7	$9,399.17
	New Democratic	Amy Norman	2,297	23.80	-0.7	$4,902.92
	People's	Shannon Champion	307	3.18	–	none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit			9,653	99.03	+0.23	$107,802.67
Total rejected ballots			94	0.96	-0.24
Turnout			9,747	48.29	-8.97
Registered voters			20,182
	Liberal hold		Swing		+0.46
Source: Elections Canada[12][13]

2019 general election

2019 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Yvonne Jones	4,851	42.48	-29.27	$82,443.39
	Conservative	Larry Flemming	3,548	31.07	+17.20	$19,580.39
	New Democratic	Michelene Gray	2,796	24.49	+10.11	$2,811.15
	Green	Tyler Colbourne	224	1.96	–	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			11,419	98.80	-0.77	104,476.76
Total rejected ballots			139	1.20	-0.78
Turnout			11,558	57.26	-4.73
Eligible voters			20,184
	Liberal hold		Swing		-23.24
Source: Elections Canada[14][15]

2015 general election

2015 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Yvonne Jones	8,878	71.75	+23.76	$95,326.13
	New Democratic	Edward Rudkowski	1,779	14.38	–4.81	$47,898.82
	Conservative	Peter Penashue	1,716	13.87	–18.53	$24,186.27
Total valid votes/expense limit			12,373	99.57		$204,663.38
Total rejected ballots			53	0.43	–0.42
Turnout			12,426	61.99	+4.00
Eligible voters			20,045
	Liberal hold		Swing		+14.29
Source: Elections Canada[16][17]

2013 by-election

Canadian federal by-election, 13 May 2013 Resignation of Peter Penashue, 14 March 2013
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Yvonne Jones	5,812	47.99	+8.92	$76,859.63
	Conservative	Peter Penashue	3,924	32.40	−7.41	$70,866.91
	New Democratic	Harry Borlase	2,324	19.19	−0.64	$81,475.53
	Libertarian	Norman Andrews	50	0.41		$236.16
Total valid votes/expense limit			12,110	100.0	–	$ 89,852.84
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			27	0.22	−0.26
Turnout			12,137	59.93	+6.49
Eligible voters			20,251
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+8.17
Source: "By-election May 13, 2013". Elections Canada. May 13, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.

2011 general election

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Peter Penashue	4,256	39.81	+31.84	$89,997.05
	Liberal	Todd Russell	4,177	39.07	−31.21	$30,016.49
	New Democratic	Jacob Larkin	2,120	19.83	+1.98	$29,968.41
	Green	George C.R. Barrett	139	1.30	−2.61	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			10,692	100.0	–	$84,468.09
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			52	0.48	−0.37
Turnout			10,744	52.91	+14.31
Eligible voters			20,305
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+31.52
Conservative candidate Peter Penashue was found to have spent above the mandated expense limit, precipitating his resignation and subsequent by-election.
Sources:[18] [19]

2008 general election

2008 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Todd Russell	5,426	70.28	+19.75	$26,887
	New Democratic	Phyllis Artiss	1,378	17.85	+8.77	$5,886
	Conservative	Lacey Lewis	615	7.97	-31.70	$15,728
	Green	Nyssa Christine McLeod	302	3.91	+3.19	none listed
Total valid votes/Expense limit			7,721	100.0	–	$81,667
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			66	0.85	+0.40
Turnout			7,787	38.60	-19.8
Eligible voters			20,175
	Liberal hold		Swing		+5.49

2006 general election

2006 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Todd Russell	5,768	50.53	-0.95	$40,903.10
	Conservative	Joe Goudie	4,528	39.67	+7.34	$36,381.98
	New Democratic	Jacob Edward Larkin	1,037	9.08	-0.81	$164.95
	Green	Gail Zwicker	82	0.72	+0.08	none listed
Total valid votes/Expense limit			11,415	100.0	–	$75,653
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			52	0.45	-0.10
Turnout			11,467	57.99	+4.55
Eligible voters			19,774
	Liberal hold		Swing		-4.14
Changes are from the 2005 by-election

2005 by-election

Canadian federal by-election, May 24, 2005 Death of Lawrence D. O'Brien, 16 December 2004
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Todd Russell	5,438	51.48	-10.75	$53,970.30
	Conservative	Graham Letto	3,415	32.33	+16.56	$73,509.62
	New Democratic	Frances Fry	1,045	9.89	+0.25	$26,121.42
	Independent	Ern Condon	598	5.66	-4.69	$254.00
	Green	Jason Crummey	68	0.64	-1.37	$78.45
Total valid votes/Expense limit			10,564	100.0	–	$74,995
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			58	0.55	+0.03
Turnout			10,622	53.44	+8.62
Eligible voters			19,876
	Liberal hold		Swing		-13.6

2004 general election

2004 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Lawrence D. O'Brien	5,524	62.23	-6.76	$35,586.52
	Conservative	Merrill Strachan	1,400	15.77	-2.85	$17,120.09
	Independent	Ern Condon	919	10.35	–	$62.50
	New Democratic	Shawn Crann	856	9.64	-2.74	none listed
	Green	Lori-Ann Martino	178	2.01	–	$135.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit			8,877	100.0	–	$73,792
Total rejected, declined and unmarked ballots			46	0.52
Turnout			8,923	44.82
Eligible voters			19,909
	Liberal hold		Swing		-1.96
Change for the Conservatives is based on the combined totals of the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance.

2000 general election

2000 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lawrence D. O'Brien	7,153	68.99	+18.37
	New Democratic	Amanda Will	1,284	12.38	-25.41
	Progressive Conservative	Hayward Broomfield	1,254	12.09	+5.20
	Alliance	Eugene Burt	677	6.53	+1.84
Total valid votes			10,368	100.00
Changes for the Canadian Alliance are based on the 1997 results of its predecessor, the Reform Party.

1997 general election

1997 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lawrence D. O'Brien	6,182	50.62	+10.15
	New Democratic	Randy Collins	4,615	37.79	+17.98
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Patton	842	6.89	-1.81
	Reform	Stephane Girardin	573	4.69	-25.69
Total valid votes			12,212	100.00

1996 by-election

Canadian federal by-election, 1996
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lawrence D. O'Brien	4,032	40.47	-36.64
	Reform	John Michael McGrath	3,027	30.38
	New Democratic	Randy Collins	1,974	19.81	+15.89
	Progressive Conservative	Darlene Gear-White	867	8.70	-10.27
	Independent	Alain Roy	63	0.63
Total valid votes			9,963	100.00
Called on Bill Rompkey's appointment to the Senate.

1993 general election

1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Bill Rompkey	8,724	77.11	+23.61
	Progressive Conservative	Wayne Piercey	2,146	18.97	-14.06
	New Democratic	Barry Knight	444	3.92	-7.40
Total valid votes			11,314	100.00

1988 general election

1988 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Bill Rompkey	7,126	53.50	+8.37
	Progressive Conservative	Joseph Goudie	4,400	33.03	-9.23
	New Democratic	Evelyn Riggs	1,508	11.32	-1.29
	Independent	Ern Condon	286	2.15
Total valid votes			13,320	100.00

Student Vote Results

See also

• List of Canadian federal electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada

References

• "Labrador (electoral district) (Code 10004) Census Profile". 2011 census. Government of Canada - Statistics Canada. Retrieved March 3, 2011.

External links

• from Elections Canada
• Riding history for Grand Falls—White Bay (1949–1952) from the Library of Parliament
• Riding history for Grand Falls—White Bay—Labrador (1952–1987) from the Library of Parliament
• Riding history for Labrador (1987– ) from the Library of Parliament
• Election Financial Reports from Elections Canada

54°07′07″N 61°08′07″W / 54.1187°N 61.1353°W / 54.1187; -61.1353