Random—Burin—St. George's

Random—Burin—St. George's stretched across a vast swath of southern and western Newfoundland, from the Clarenville area on the island's east side through the Burin Peninsula, along the south coast, and westward to Stephenville and Channel-Port aux Basques. Created in the 2003 redistribution from the former Burin—St. George's riding with the addition of communities from adjacent ridings, the district encompassed more than a hundred small coastal communities along with several larger service centres. It was one of the most geographically dispersed ridings in the province.

Candidates

Judy Foote (Liberal) — Foote was the incumbent MP, first elected in 2008. Born and raised in Grand Bank on the Burin Peninsula, she earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education from Memorial University before teaching at her hometown high school. She later trained in radio and television arts at Lambton College in Ontario and worked as a television journalist for CBC's Here & Now. Foote subsequently served as Director of University Relations at Memorial University and then as Director of Communications for Premier Clyde Wells from 1989 to the mid-1990s. She represented the provincial riding of Grand Bank as an MHA from 1996 to 2007 before making the jump to federal politics.

John Ottenheimer (Conservative) — Ottenheimer was a lawyer and former provincial politician from St. John's. He held degrees from Memorial University in arts, education, and a Master of Education, and earned his law degree from the University of Windsor in 1982. After careers in teaching and school administration, he practised law in St. John's. Ottenheimer served as the Progressive Conservative MHA for St. John's East from 1996 to 2007 and held several cabinet portfolios in the Danny Williams government, including Minister of Health and Community Services, Minister of Education, and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Stella Magalios (NDP) and Tanya Gutmanis (Green Party) also contested the riding.

About the Riding

The riding's economy was shaped by its coastal geography and its role as the gateway to Newfoundland from the mainland. Channel-Port aux Basques, at the riding's western tip, served as the primary ferry terminal for Marine Atlantic's service across the Cabot Strait to North Sydney, Nova Scotia, making it the island's most important transportation link to the rest of Canada. Stephenville, with a population of roughly 6,719 in 2011, functioned as the regional service centre for southwestern Newfoundland, serving a catchment area of roughly 35,000 people; the town had been adjusting since the closure of its paper mill in 2005 and the much earlier departure of the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in 1966.

The Burin Peninsula, extending southward into the Atlantic, had been one of the hardest-hit regions following the 1992 cod moratorium. Marystown, the peninsula's largest town, was home to the Marystown Shipyard, established in 1959 and an important employer for the region. The shipyard had undergone cycles of boom and contraction tied to offshore oil platform construction and repair work. The town's fish plant, operated by Ocean Choice International, employed roughly 240 people seasonally by 2011 but was under severe financial pressure. Grand Bank, Foote's hometown, was a historic fishing community that had also seen significant population decline since the moratorium. Clarenville, at the riding's eastern end with a population of roughly 6,036, served as a service centre for communities around Random Island and Trinity Bay, with retail, healthcare, and support services for the offshore oil industry contributing to its economy.