There are three words that summarize the political history of Prince George – Peace River:

Conservative Safe Seat

Not since 1972 has there been been a non-Progressive Conservative/Reform/Alliance/Conservative elected to this riding. It was the Liberal, Robert Borrie, elected 1968-1972 and I beleive he had two things going for him: 1) apprently he was known as a very nice guy; and 2) He was elected when Pierre Trudeau swept the nation.

Since then, Prince George -  Peace River has been so stable that Mugabe would be jealous. In fact, since 1972 there have been two people serving as MP: Frank Oberle from 1972 to 1993 and Jay Hill from 1993 to Present.

Now, let’s talk about geography. Prince George – Peace River is very big. It is easily just under 1/3 of the third largest province in Canada. We can split the riding into three parts: Prince George, Fraser-Fort George, and the Peace River. (There is a little map of the riding at the bottom of the post).

Prince George is the urban part of the riding, located in the southern end. It consists of Northern Prince George (Southern Prince George is part of Cariboo-Prince George). Prince George focuses on two things: forest products processing and regional services (such as the university, hospital, and shopping).

Fraser-Fort is the Southern half of the riding surrounding Prince George. Like Prince George, it’s main economic driver is the forest industry, and currently, the forest industry is suffering, with plants reducing shifts or closing down completely.

Peace River is the Northern half of the riding. Traditionally, its economic driver has been focused on agriculture; however, the energy sector as of late has made the region grow.