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Canada 150: The changing face of P.A.’s riding

Jul 2, 2017 | 12:48 PM

Like many Canadians, the federal riding of Prince Albert has gone through some changes.

The electoral district has changed names, political stripes and sizes over the country’s 150 years. The riding was first created in 1907 from portions of the Humboldt, Mackenzie and Saskatchewan ridings. Liberal William Winfield Rutan became its first elected Member of Parliment in 1908.

Over the years, the riding was able to produce a number of Prime Ministers; William Lyon Mackenzie King, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and most notably, John G. Diefenbaker.

In 1988, Prince Albert was broken apart into three separate electoral districts, one of them being Prince Albert-Churchill River. It was here that Ray Funk became the second NDP MP ever to represent the constituents of Prince Albert in Ottawa, the first being Stanley Hovdebo in 1980.

“It was certainly an interesting time,” Funk said on his time as an MP. “I had the misfortune of having my marriage blow up my first year of my term. So I struggled personally with that.”

Funk first became interested in politics at a young age as it ran in the family. He said a relative of his stepped down as an MP to allow Tommy Douglas to run in a by-election. Throughout school, Funk continued to grow his interested in politics, keeping a close eye on prominent world events such as the Vietnam War.

Funk’s successful jump into federal politics happened during the 1988 election where he defeated J.J. Cennon with 17,915 votes, nearly 9,000 more than his Progressive Conservative rival.

Though only serving one term, Funk called it an honour to represent the riding on Parliament Hill, more so during what he called the most interesting term in recent political history.

“I was always moved by the role parliament plays in the life of the country historically and to be a part of that was inspiring,” he said. “I really look back on it as being a highlight of my life.”

Funk was eventually beaten by Liberal Gordon Kirkby in the 1993 election. Kirkby, a former Prince Albert mayor, said he and a bunch of friends were discussing ways to make a difference in their community when the decision was made for him to run for city council. This eventually lead to him to seek the mayor’s seat and ultimately, one in parliament.

Under the leadership of prime minister Jean Chretien, Kirkby said the country was dealing with major financial troubles.

“The accumulated debt of the country was out of control,” he said. “There was a quite a period of fiscal austerity brought about by the Chretien government over its first term. This effort into the second term finally brought the country balanced budgets and actually paying down the national debt, which was a major accomplishment.”

In 1996, Prince Albert would say goodbye to Churchill River to once again stand on its own as a federal riding. The change would mean good things for right-leaning parties. During the 1997 election, Kirkby, along with Funk, would be defeated by Reform Party candidate Derrek Konrad, who received roughly 38.1 per cent of the vote.

The Canadian Alliance Party would see victory the following election in 2000 with Brian Fitzpatrick, who would go on to represent the riding with the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada. The mantel was eventually handed to current MP Randy Hoback, who was first elected in 2008 with more than 57 per cent of the vote.

Kirkby attempted to retake the riding in 2015 but Hoback was able to keep his seat in Ottawa taking nearly 50 per cent of the vote followed by NDP’s Lon Borgerson, who received 28 per cent.

When the riding changed in 1996, Kirkby said the district became much smaller with larger urban centres but for the most part, the issues stayed the same. He said there’s no way of knowing for certain if he would have won had the riding stayed the same.

“You can speculate until the cows come home, I guess, but you can’t say if it would be any different regardless of where you were,” he added.

 

Jeff.labine@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @labinereporter