Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte

Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte stretched along Newfoundland's western coast, from the Bay of Islands and Corner Brook in the south up the entire length of the Great Northern Peninsula to its tip at St. Anthony, and east to include the Baie Verte Peninsula on Notre Dame Bay. It was one of the most geographically expansive federal ridings in Newfoundland, encompassing Gros Morne National Park, the Long Range Mountains, and hundreds of kilometres of coastline along the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Strait of Belle Isle.

Candidates

Gerry Byrne (Liberal) — Byrne was the long-serving incumbent, first elected in a 1996 by-election to succeed Brian Tobin, who had left federal politics to become premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. A graduate of Dalhousie University in biology, Byrne had worked as an economic development officer on the Great Northern Peninsula before entering politics. He served as Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency from 2002 to 2003 in the Chrétien government. By 2011, Byrne had won six consecutive elections in the riding and was one of the most senior Liberal MPs in Atlantic Canada.

Trevor Taylor (Conservative) — Taylor was a former provincial politician from the Great Northern Peninsula who had worked as a fisherman before entering politics. He won a provincial by-election in January 2001 for the riding of The Straits—White Bay North and went on to serve in the Danny Williams cabinet as Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, and Minister of Transportation and Works. Taylor resigned from provincial politics in October 2009 and sought the federal Conservative nomination for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte in March 2011.

Shelley Senior (NDP) — Senior carried the NDP banner in the riding during the 2011 campaign. Limited public biographical information was available about her background heading into the election.

Wayne R. Bennett (Independent) and Robin Blair Gosse (Green Party) also contested the riding.

About the Riding

Corner Brook, the riding's largest community with a population of roughly 19,886 in 2011, is Newfoundland's second-largest city and the economic hub of the west coast. The Kruger-owned Corner Brook Pulp and Paper mill has been the city's anchor employer since 1925, though the facility faced significant challenges by 2011 — sinking newsprint demand and a high Canadian dollar had led to the shutdown of one of its three paper machines in 2009, eliminating roughly 130 jobs between mill and woods workers. The city also hosts Western Memorial Regional Hospital, Grenfell Campus of Memorial University, and serves as the regional centre for government services, retail, and professional services.

Deer Lake, with a population of roughly 4,995 in 2011, serves as a key transportation hub thanks to its regional airport and its position at the junction of highways leading to the Bay of Islands, the Humber Valley, the Great Northern Peninsula, and the Baie Verte Peninsula. The Baie Verte Peninsula, centred on the town of Baie Verte (population roughly 1,370), has a long mining history; by 2011, renewed activity included the Pine Cove gold mine, which opened in 2008, and the reopening of the former Nugget Pond mill to process gold-bearing ore. The Great Northern Peninsula stretches northward to St. Anthony, the region's main service centre, home to the Grenfell Historic Properties and a hub for the fishing industry. Tourism is a significant economic driver across the riding, anchored by Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and augmented by the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows near the peninsula's northern tip.