INTENSE GEEKERY IMMEDIATELY TO FOLLOW
My first two campaigns were in the mellifluously named riding of Verdun-Saint-Henri-Saint-Paul-Pointe-Saint-Charles. It's now named Jeanne-Le Ber, only 26% of its former length, which is good because the process of filing nomination papers and many other processes in the election office involve writing out the riding name numerous times by hand.
I've since borne an interest in the length of riding names. There are currently 308 federal ridings in Canada. The mean length of their English-language official names (in total characters, including spaces and punctuation) is 17.3. Interestingly, 17 is also the mode of riding lengths: there are 24 ridings with exactly 17 characters, including Calgary Southwest, AB (Harper's riding), Hamilton Mountain and Timmins-James Bay, ON (NDP ridings), and the lovely Tobique-Mactaquac, NB.
The shortest names are those of four ridings which have 5 characters in the name: Laval (QC), Brant (ON), Essex (ON), and Yukon (YT).
The current longest name is West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, BC. Astonishingly, this name is a changed name, from the much more manageable West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast. I note parenthetically that the current MP for WV-SC-StSC, Blair Wilson, has been expelled from the Liberal caucus over allegations of improper finances. Coincidence? I think not.
WV-SC-StSC, nevertheless, is two characters shorter than my former riding name of V-SH-SP-PSC. Among the ridings of the 1996 representation order, it was tied for longest name at 50 characters, with two other Quebec ridings: Beauport-Montmorency-Côte-de-Beaupré-Île-d'Orléans and Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup-Témiscouata-Les Basques. However, it's an isolated case (along with one or two other outliers, such as Bonaventure-Gaspé-Îles-de-la-Madeleine-Pabok, which was whittled down to Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine) -- the average length of Quebec riding names actually grew in the new rep order, from 17.97 to 18.28. Despite Quebec's reputation for cramming in every MRC into the name, though, only half (38) of Quebec's riding names are above the Canadian average.
Here's a summary table:
Province Number of ridings Average Shortest Longest # above fed average AB 28 15.18 Macleod (7) Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont (28) 8 (28%) BC 36 20.11 Langley (7) West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country (48) 21 (58%) MB 14 16.86 Churchill (9) Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia (32) 3 (21%) NB 10 15.30 Miramichi (9) New Brunswick Southwest (25) 3 (30%) NL 7 21.14 Avalon (6) Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor (36) 4 (57%) NS 11 17.73 Halifax (7) Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley (41) 4 (36%) ON 106 16.47 Brant = Essex (5) Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington (37) 42 (40%) PE 4 8.75 Egmont (6) Charlottetown (13) 0 (0%) QC 75 18.28 Laval (5) Montmagny-L'Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup (44) 38 (51%) SK 14 18.85 Wascana (7) Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River (35) 8 (57%) Terr. 3 8.67 Yukon (5) Western Arctic (14) 0 (0%) The ten longest riding names:
1. West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, BC (48)
2. Montmagny-L'Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup, QC (44)
3. Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, NS (41)
=. Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques, QC (41)
5. Haute-Gaspésie-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia, QC (40)
6. Montmorency-Charlevoix-Haute-Côte-Nord, QC (38)
7. Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, ON (37)
8. Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor, NL (36)
=. Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, ON (36)
10. Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, SK (35)
Number 11, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC, is the longest without any dashes, at 34. The longest single-word name appears to be Charlottetown, PEI, at 13.
I've since borne an interest in the length of riding names. There are currently 308 federal ridings in Canada. The mean length of their English-language official names (in total characters, including spaces and punctuation) is 17.3. Interestingly, 17 is also the mode of riding lengths: there are 24 ridings with exactly 17 characters, including Calgary Southwest, AB (Harper's riding), Hamilton Mountain and Timmins-James Bay, ON (NDP ridings), and the lovely Tobique-Mactaquac, NB.
The shortest names are those of four ridings which have 5 characters in the name: Laval (QC), Brant (ON), Essex (ON), and Yukon (YT).
The current longest name is West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, BC. Astonishingly, this name is a changed name, from the much more manageable West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast. I note parenthetically that the current MP for WV-SC-StSC, Blair Wilson, has been expelled from the Liberal caucus over allegations of improper finances. Coincidence? I think not.
WV-SC-StSC, nevertheless, is two characters shorter than my former riding name of V-SH-SP-PSC. Among the ridings of the 1996 representation order, it was tied for longest name at 50 characters, with two other Quebec ridings: Beauport-Montmorency-Côte-de-Beaupré-Île-d'Orléans and Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup-Témiscouata-Les Basques. However, it's an isolated case (along with one or two other outliers, such as Bonaventure-Gaspé-Îles-de-la-Madeleine-Pabok, which was whittled down to Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine) -- the average length of Quebec riding names actually grew in the new rep order, from 17.97 to 18.28. Despite Quebec's reputation for cramming in every MRC into the name, though, only half (38) of Quebec's riding names are above the Canadian average.
Here's a summary table:
Province Number of ridings Average Shortest Longest # above fed average AB 28 15.18 Macleod (7) Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont (28) 8 (28%) BC 36 20.11 Langley (7) West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country (48) 21 (58%) MB 14 16.86 Churchill (9) Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia (32) 3 (21%) NB 10 15.30 Miramichi (9) New Brunswick Southwest (25) 3 (30%) NL 7 21.14 Avalon (6) Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor (36) 4 (57%) NS 11 17.73 Halifax (7) Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley (41) 4 (36%) ON 106 16.47 Brant = Essex (5) Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington (37) 42 (40%) PE 4 8.75 Egmont (6) Charlottetown (13) 0 (0%) QC 75 18.28 Laval (5) Montmagny-L'Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup (44) 38 (51%) SK 14 18.85 Wascana (7) Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River (35) 8 (57%) Terr. 3 8.67 Yukon (5) Western Arctic (14) 0 (0%) The ten longest riding names:
1. West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, BC (48)
2. Montmagny-L'Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup, QC (44)
3. Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, NS (41)
=. Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques, QC (41)
5. Haute-Gaspésie-La Mitis-Matane-Matapédia, QC (40)
6. Montmorency-Charlevoix-Haute-Côte-Nord, QC (38)
7. Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, ON (37)
8. Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor, NL (36)
=. Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, ON (36)
10. Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, SK (35)
Number 11, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC, is the longest without any dashes, at 34. The longest single-word name appears to be Charlottetown, PEI, at 13.