Acadie—Bathurst

Acadie—Bathurst is a federal riding in northeastern New Brunswick, spanning the Acadian Peninsula and the city of Bathurst on Nepisiguit Bay. It encompasses all of Gloucester County and part of Restigouche County, taking in communities such as Caraquet, Tracadie-Sheila, Shippagan, Lamèque, Miscou Island, and the towns along Chaleur Bay. The riding is one of the most strongly francophone constituencies outside Quebec.

Candidates

Yvon Godin (NDP) — Born in Saint-Sauveur, New Brunswick, Godin was first elected in 1997 and was seeking his fifth consecutive term. Before entering federal politics, he worked at Brunswick Mine in Bathurst, serving as President of the United Steelworkers of America local from 1982 to 1988 and then as a representative for the Steelworkers from 1988 to 1997. In Ottawa, he served as NDP Whip and held critic portfolios for Employment Insurance, Official Languages, and Intergovernmental Affairs. His initial election in 1997 was fuelled by widespread anger over the Liberal government’s Employment Insurance reforms, which disproportionately affected seasonal workers in the riding.

Louis Robichaud (Conservative) — Robichaud ran as the Conservative candidate in Acadie—Bathurst in 2011.

Jean Marie Gionet (Liberal) — Gionet carried the Liberal banner in the riding in 2011.

About the Riding

Acadie—Bathurst is deeply Acadian in character, with French as the mother tongue of the large majority of residents. Bathurst, the riding’s largest centre with a metropolitan population of roughly 31,000, sits at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River where it empties into Chaleur Bay. The fishing industry is the economic backbone of the Acadian Peninsula, with a large Atlantic fishing fleet based in Caraquet and Shippagan, along with fish, crab, and oyster processing plants. Caraquet, often called the capital of Acadia, is home to the annual Acadian Festival and the Village Historique Acadien. The region is also a major producer of peat moss, harvested from bogs for export to garden centres and farms across North America and Asia. The closure of Brunswick Mine in Bathurst, once one of the world’s largest underground zinc mines, was imminent in 2011 and posed a significant threat to the local economy. Seasonal employment patterns and the adequacy of Employment Insurance benefits were perennial concerns, given the cyclical nature of fishing, forestry, and peat harvesting. The riding’s population was approximately 81,000.