Saint John—Kennebecasis (formerly Saint John—Rothesay) is a federal electoral district in southern New Brunswick, Canada. With its predecessor ridings, St. John—Albert, Saint John—Lancaster, and Saint John, the area has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917.
The district has always included the city of Saint John, and various suburbs and bedroom communities have been added or removed from it over the years. Presently the district also includes the towns of Quispamsis and Rothesay, the Indian reserve of The Brothers 18, and part of Simonds Parish.
The neighbouring ridings are Fundy Royal and Saint John—St. Croix.
History
Originally, Saint John had a special setup for representation in Parliament. The "City of St. John" returned one member, while the "City and County of St. John", which included both the County of Saint John and the City of St. John, returned one as well. Between 1872 and 1896, the "City and County" riding elected two Members of Parliament, and the City of St. John riding elected one. In effect, the city itself had two or even three Members of Parliament. This practice continued until 1914.
After 1914, the counties of Saint John and Albert were joined. At that time, the "City and County" riding and the St. John riding were merged into a new riding, called "St. John—Albert", that also incorporated parts of King's and Albert riding. The new riding returned two Members of Parliament until 1935.
In 1966, St. John—Albert was abolished when Albert County was moved to the Fundy—Royal riding. A new riding, "Saint John—Lancaster", was created.
Saint John—Lancaster was abolished in the 1976 redistribution, and a new riding with substantially the same boundaries was created and named "Saint John". The City of Lancaster had been amalgamated into Saint John.
In recent years, the Progressive Conservative Party has had the most success in the city: its members were elected in all but four elections since 1953: 1974, 1980, 2004, and 2006. Well-known Members of Parliament from the area include Father of Confederation Samuel Leonard Tilley, former Veterans Affairs Minister Gerald Merrithew and popular former mayor Elsie Wayne.
As per the 2012 federal electoral redistribution, this riding was renamed Saint John—Rothesay and lost a small portion of territory to Fundy Royal.
Following the 2022 Canadian federal electoral redistribution, territorial changes were made and the riding was renamed to Saint John—Kennebecasis. The new territorial boundary gained Quispamsis from Fundy Royal and lost all of the City of Saint John located west of the Saint John River to the newly renamed riding of Saint John—St. Croix. The name refers to the Kennebecasis Valley.
Members of Parliament These ridings have elected the following members of Parliament: Parliament Years Member Party Member Party St. John—AlbertRiding created from City and County of St. John 13th 1917 – 1921 Rupert Wilson Wigmore Government (Unionist) Stanley Edward Elkin Government (Unionist) 14th 1921 – 1925 John Babington Macaulay Baxter Conservative Murray MacLaren Conservative 15th 1925 – 1926 Thomas Bell 16th 1926 – 1930 17th 1930 – 1935 18th 1935 – 1938 William Ryan Liberal 1938 – 1940 Allan McAvity 19th 1940 – 1945 King Hazen National Government 20th 1945 – 1949 Progressive Conservative 21st 1949 – 1953 Daniel Aloysius Riley Liberal 22nd 1953 – 1957 Thomas Miller Bell Progressive Conservative 23rd 1957 – 1958 24th 1958 – 1962 25th 1962 – 1963 26th 1963 – 1965 27th 1965 – 1968 St. John—Lancaster 28th 1968 – 1972 Thomas Miller Bell Progressive Conservative 29th 1972 – 1974 30th 1974 – 1979 Mike Landers Liberal Saint John 31st 1979 – 1980 Eric Ferguson Progressive Conservative 32nd 1980 – 1984 Mike Landers Liberal 33rd 1984 – 1988 Gerald Merrithew Progressive Conservative 34th 1988 – 1993 35th 1993 – 1997 Elsie Wayne 36th 1997 – 2000 37th 2000 – 2003 2003 – 2004 Conservative 38th 2004 – 2006 Paul Zed Liberal 39th 2006 – 2008 40th 2008 – 2011 Rodney Weston Conservative 41st 2011 – 2015 Saint John—Rothesay 42nd 2015–2019 Wayne Long Liberal 43rd 2019–2021 44th 2021–2025 Saint John—Kennebecasis 45th 2025–present Wayne Long Liberal
Election results
Saint John—Kennebecasis, 2023 representation order
2021 federal election redistributed results Party Vote % Liberal 16,082 42.60 Conservative 13,737 36.39 New Democratic 4,975 13.18 People's 1,851 4.90 Green 1,106 2.93 Total valid votes 37,751 99.45 Rejected ballots 210 0.55 Registered voters/ estimated turnout 62,675 60.57
Saint John—Rothesay, 2013 representation order
2011 federal election redistributed resultsPundits' Guide to Canadian Elections Party Vote % Conservative 17,881 49.72 New Democratic 11,052 30.73 Liberal 5,750 15.99 Green 992 2.76 Others 288 0.80
Saint John, 2003 Representation Order
2000 federal election redistributed results Party Vote % Progressive Conservative 19,236 49.05 Liberal 11,829 30.16 Alliance 4,099 10.45 New Democratic 3,421 8.72 Others 635 1.62
Saint John, 1996 Representation Order
Saint John, previous elections
Saint John—Lancaster, 1966–1976
St. John—Albert 1914–1966
Note: Conservative vote is compared to Government vote in 1917 election, and Liberal vote is compared to Opposition vote. Popular vote is compared to the party's total share of the popular vote in the 1917 general election.
See also List of Canadian electoral districts Historical federal electoral districts of Canada
References
Notes
External links Riding history from the Library of Parliament: 1914 - 1966 1966 - 1976 1976-1987 1987-present