Results, Ridings and Candidates

Prince George - Peace River

2008 Results

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This riding occupies the wild, rugged northeast corner of British Columbia. Communities include the oil-and-gas exploration centre of Fort St. John; Fort Nelson, with the province's biggest wood-products plant; and the part of Prince George north of the Nechako River and east of the Fraser River.

According to the 2006 census, slightly more than 11 per cent of the riding's residents are aboriginals. About seven per cent are immigrants. Eighty-nine per cent speak English as their mother tongue and 1.6 per cent speak French. Eight per cent speak an aboriginal language.

With Prince George billing itself as the "spruce capital of the world," it stands to reason that wood drives the economy here. Logging, sawmills and pulp mills are major employers. Tourism is centred on the lakes and rivers, and on the Alaska Highway, which throngs with summer travellers. The average family income is $85,446 and the unemployment rate is 6.5 per cent.

The riding was established in 1966. In the 2004 redistribution, it got an additional 9,775 residents from Prince George-Bulkley Valley.

Population: 105,865 (2006 census; an increase of 1.5% since 2001)

Political History

Since 1993, this riding has been in the hands of Jay Hill of the Conservatives. During that time, he has served as a Reformer, a Canadian Alliance member and briefly as an Independent during a disagreement over Stockwell Day's leadership of the Alliance.

Hill trounced New Democrat Michael Jay Crockett in 2006, winning by more than 16,000 votes. In Hill's 2004 win, he outpolled the runner-up, New Democrat Michael Hunter, by 13,780 votes. Hill enjoyed similar victories in 1993, 1997 and 2000.

From 1972 to 1993, Prince George-Peace River was a Tory stronghold. PC Frank Oberle was elected five times and served as minister of forestry and minister of state for science and technology.