Victoria is a federal

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, that has been represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

from 1872 to 1904 and since 1925. The riding was originally chartered as Victoria District for the special byelections held in 1871 upon the province's entry into

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. Like the other B.C. ridings with that appellation, however, the "District" was dropped once the temporary ridings were ratified and made "permanent" for the general election of 1872; this was the first in which the Victoria riding (by that name) appeared. From 1905 up until the 1925 election, Victoria was represented by the riding of Victoria City.

Demographics

Ethnic groups (2006): 85.54% White, 4.05% Chinese, 3.07% Aboriginal, 1.26% South Asian, 1.22% Japanese, 1.15% Filipino, 1.09% Black
Languages (2011): 83.93% English, 2.92% Chinese, 1.79% French, 1.40% German
Religions (2001): 35.36% Protestant, 15.05% Catholic, 3.94% Other Christian, 1.62% Buddhist, 40.52% No religion
Median income (2005): $24,022

Geography

It covers the entire city of Victoria, the municipality of Oak Bay and the southeastern portion of the municipality of Saanich. It also includes the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

History

This electoral district was created in 1872 when Victoria District riding was abolished. It elected two members to the

through

Block voting Block or bloc voting refers to a class of electoral systems where multiple candidates are elected simultaneously. They do not guarantee minority representation and allow a group of voters (a voting bloc) to ensure that only their preferred candi ...

. Of the two it elected in 1872, one ( Henry Nathan Jr.) was the first Jewish MP of Canada; the other ( William Alexander "Amor De Cosmos" Smith) served as MP while also serving as

premier of British Columbia The premier of British Columbia is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s, the title ''prime minister of British Columbia'' was often used. The word ''premier'' is derived ...

. In 1878, Sir John A. Macdonald was parachuted into the riding, as he was unelectable in eastern Canada, in the wake of the Pacific Scandal. Macdonald, previously the MP for the Marquette riding in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, had to run in a by-election as he had been appointed to the cabinet (to serve as

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

). He chose Victoria, which had not yet held its portion of the 1878 Canadian federal election. Victorians voted for him enthusiastically, as he promised to finally bring about the construction of what became the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. He did not run for re-election in Victoria, instead securing a safe seat in Ontario in 1882.Canadian Encyclopedia 2005 It was abolished in 1903, and its territory was divided between the new single-member ridings of Victoria City and

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

. It was re-created in 1924 from the Victoria City riding, electing one member to the House of Commons. A redistribution in 1966 trimmed the size of the riding slightly, removing parts of Saanich west of Cedar Hill Road and north of Cedar Hill Cross Road. Victoria was one of two electoral districts in British Columbia that saw no changes to its boundaries proposed following the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of Parliament: {, class="wikitable" ! Parliament ! Years ! colspan="2" , Member ! Party ! colspan="2" , Member ! Party , - , bgcolor="#F0F0F0" colspan="8" align="center" , Victoria
''Riding created from'' Victoria District , - , bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" , 2nd , 1872–1874 , , , Henry Nathan, Jr. , Liberal , rowspan="3" , , rowspan="3" , Amor De Cosmos , rowspan="3" , Liberal , - , bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" , 3rd , 1874–1878 , , ,

Francis James Roscoe Francis James Roscoe (December 28, 1830 – December 20, 1878) was a Canadian entrepreneur and Member of Parliament. Francis Roscoe was born in Liverpool, England, the son of W.S. Roscoe. He was educated at University College and the Univer ...

, Independent Liberal , - , bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" , 4th , 1878–1882 , , , John A. Macdonald , Liberal–Conservative , - , bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" , 5th , 1882–1887 , rowspan="7" , , rowspan="2" , Noah Shakespeare , rowspan="7" ,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, rowspan="8" , , rowspan="3" , Edgar Crow Baker , rowspan="8" ,

, - , rowspan="3" bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" , 6th , align="center" , 1887 , - , 1888–1889 , rowspan="5" , Edward Gawler Prior , - , 1889–1891 , rowspan="5" , Thomas Earle , - , bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" , 7th , 1891–1896 , - , bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" ,

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

, 1896–1900 , - , rowspan="2" bgcolor="whitesmoke" align="center" , 9th , 1900–1902 , - , 1902–1904 , , , George Riley , Liberal , - , bgcolor="#F0F0F0" colspan="8" align="center" , ''Riding dissolved into'' Victoria City ''and''

, - , bgcolor="#F0F0F0" colspan="8" align="center" , Victoria
''Riding re-created from'' Victoria City , -

Current member of Parliament

The current member of Parliament for Victoria is Will Greaves. He is a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

Riding associations

Riding association An electoral district association (), commonly known as a riding association () or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) distr ...

s are the local branches of

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

: {, class="wikitable" , - , colspan="2" rowspan="1" align="left" valign="top" , Party , valign="top" , Association name , valign="top" , President , Victoria Conservative Association , Timothy Stonhouse , Victoria Green Party Association , Bruce G. Livingstone , Victoria Federal Liberal Association , Allan G. Hurd , Victoria Federal NDP Riding Association , Liam Lawson-Tattersall , Vancouver Island Regional PPC Association , Serryna Whiteside

Election results

1925–present

The Victoria riding name was re-established as a one-member seat in 1924.

1925-1984

1872–1902

The Victoria riding was abolished in 1903. Successor ridings were Victoria City and, for western parts of the riding,

. This riding elected two members to parliament.

Notes

References

Citations

General

*
Expenditures – 2004

Expenditures – 2000

Expenditures – 1997

External links

* Website of th
Parliament of Canada
{{coord, 48.4, N, 123.3, W, display=title British Columbia federal electoral districts on Vancouver Island Politics of Victoria, British Columbia Saanich, British Columbia British Columbia federal electoral districts