Beauséjour riding (formerly known as Beauséjour—Petitcodiac) is a federal electoral district in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada, which has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. It replaced Westmorland—Kent, which was represented from 1968 to 1988.
Beauséjour is largely Acadian and Francophone, with a significant Anglophone section in the southern section of the riding.
Westmorland—Kent was created in 1966 from Kent, and part of Westmorland that was not included in the Moncton riding. It was abolished when it was incorporated into the new riding of Beauséjour in 1987.
Beauséjour was created in 1987 primarily from Westmorland—Kent, incorporating parts of Moncton and Northumberland—Miramichi ridings.
In 1997, it was renamed "Beauséjour—Petitcodiac", and expanded to include most of Albert County and the Petitcodiac area of western Westmorland County. This created a "doughnut" around Greater Moncton, which was a separate district.
In 2003, Beauséjour—Petitcodiac was abolished when it was redistributed into a new Beauséjour riding and into Fundy riding.
The new Beauséjour riding was created primarily from Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, incorporating parts of Miramichi and Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe ridings.
Future Prime MinisterJean Chrétien represented Beauséjour for a short time in the early 1990s after he won the Liberal leadership. Chrétien did not have a seat in the House of Commons at the time, and the sitting MP stepped down to allow him to run in a by-election.
Since its creation, the riding has voted Liberal in every election except 1997, when it elected Angela Vautour of the New Democratic Party. Vautour switched to the Progressive Conservatives midway through her term, and was defeated in 2000.
Federal riding associations[]
Riding associations are the local branches of the national political parties:
Graph of election results in Westmorland—Kent, Beauséjour(1987-1997), Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, Beauséjour(2003-) (1966-, minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)
Beauséjour[]
Graph of election results in Beauséjour (2003-, minor parties that never got 2% of the vote or didn't run consistently are omitted)
Changes from 2000 are based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals.
Change for Progressive Conservative candidate Angela Vautour are based on the party's results in 1997. She personally received 6.88% fewer votes based on her results as an NDP candidate.
Change for the Canadian Alliance for 1997 are based on the results of its predecessor, the Reform Party.
In 2011, a Student Vote was conducted at participating Canadian schools to parallel the 2011 Canadian federal election results. The vote was designed to educate students and simulate the electoral process for persons who have not yet reached the legal majority. Schools with a large student body that reside in another electoral district had the option to vote for candidates outside of the electoral district then where they were physically located.[11]