Calgary Heritage

This article is about the federal electoral district. For the history of the city of Calgary, see Calgary § History.

Calgary Heritage

Alberta electoral district
Calgary Heritage in relation to other Alberta federal electoral districts as of the 2013 Representation Order.
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Bob Benzen Conservative
District created	2013
First contested	2015
Last contested	2017
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2011)	108,320
Electors (2015)	80,213
Area (km²)	70
Pop. density (per km²)	1,547.4
Census divisions	Division No. 6
Census subdivisions	Calgary

Calgary Heritage is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015.

Calgary Heritage was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally defined in the 2013 representation order. It came into effect upon the calling of the 2015 Canadian federal election, which was held that 19 October. It is essentially a reconfigured version of Calgary Southwest, the former riding of Stephen Harper, who served as the Prime Minister of Canada from 2006 until his party was defeated in 2015. Territory from the former Calgary Southwest comprises 99% of the new riding, while territory from Calgary Southeast makes up 1%.

While Calgary as a whole has long been considered heartland for the Conservative Party of Canada and its antecedents, Calgary Heritage is located in a particularly conservative area of Calgary. Its predecessor, Calgary Southwest, frequently gave Conservative candidates some of the highest margins in the nation. Had it existed under its current boundaries in 2011, Harper would have won over 74 percent of the vote.

While Harper was handily re-elected to this riding in the 2015 election, his Conservatives lost their bid for a fresh mandate. Harper resigned as prime minister on November 4, 2015, shortly before the new prime minister Justin Trudeau's inauguration. Harper resigned as MP for Calgary Heritage on August 26, 2016. A by-election to fill the seat was held on April 3, 2017; Bob Benzen retained it for the Conservatives.

Geography

The riding is located in the southwestern corner of Calgary. It contains the neighbourhoods of Bayview, Braeside, Bridlewood, Canyon Meadows, Cedarbrae, Chinook Park, Eagle Ridge, Evergreen, Haysboro, Kelvin Grove, Kingsland, Lakeview, North Glenmore Park (south of Glenmore Trail), Oakridge, Palliser, Pump Hill, Shawnee Slopes, Southwood, Woodbine and Woodlands.

Demographics

According to the Canada 2011 Census

Ethnic groups: 75.9% White, 5.8% Filipino, 4.7% Chinese, 3.1% South Asian, 2.4% Aboriginal, 2.2% Latin American, 2.1% Black
Languages: 74.9% English, 3.7% Chinese, 3.0% Tagalog, 2.3% Spanish, 1.9% Russian, 1.8% French, 1.1% German
Religions: 61.6% Christian (26.1% Catholic, 7.7% United Church, 4.8% Anglican, 2.9% Christian Orthodox, 2.5% Lutheran, 1.5% Presbyterian, 1.5% Baptist, 1.3% Pentecostal, 12.6% Other Christian), 2.5% Muslim, 2.4% Jewish, 1.2% Hindu, 31.4% None.
Median income: $39,383 (2010)
Average income: $57,511 (2010)

Riding associations

Riding associations are the local branches of political parties:

Party		Association Name	CEO	HQ Address
	Conservative	Calgary Heritage Conservative Association	Barb Zabrowski	2525 Woodview Drive SW
	Green	Calgary Heritage Federal Green Party Association	Kelly J. Christie	491 Queen Charlotte Road SE
	Liberal	Calgary Heritage Federal Liberal Association	Eric Peters	1301-8880 Horton Road SW
	New Democratic	Calgary Heritage Federal NDP Riding Association	Roger Moreau	648 Parkvalley Road SE

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
Calgary Heritage Riding created from Calgary Southeast and Calgary Southwest
42nd	2015–2016		Stephen Harper	Conservative
	2017–present		Bob Benzen

Election results

Canadian federal by-election, April 3, 2017 Resignation of Stephen Harper
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bob Benzen	19,389	71.49	+7.72
	Liberal	Scott Forsyth	5,889	21.71	−4.26
	New Democratic	Khalis Ahmed	784	2.89	−4.39
	Green	Taryn Knorren	484	1.78	−0.35
	Christian Heritage	Jeff Willerton	383	1.41
	Libertarian	Darcy Gerow	113	0.42
	National Advancement	Stephen J. Garvey	79	0.29
Total valid votes/Expense limit			27,121	100.0	–
Total rejected ballots				-
Turnout
Eligible voters			81,036
	Conservative hold		Swing		+4.70

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Stephen Harper	37,263	63.77	–10.65	$105,821.13
	Liberal	Brendan Miles	15,172	25.97	+18.50	$46,125.76
	New Democratic	Matt Masters	4,255	7.28	–4.84	$38,181.16
	Green	Kelly Christie	1,246	2.13	–3.37	$7,044.83
	Libertarian	Steven Paolasini	246	0.42	–	$170.00
	Independent	Larry R. Heather	114	0.20	–	$16.50
	Independent	Korry Zepik	73	0.12	–	$1,098.48
	Independent	Nicolas Duchastel de Montrouge	61	0.10	–	$277.12
Total valid votes/Expense limit			58,430	100.00		$215,236.37
Total rejected ballots			228	0.39	–
Turnout			58,658	73.13	–
Eligible voters			80,213
	Conservative hold		Swing		–14.58
Source: Elections Canada

2011 federal election redistributed results
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	34,761	74.38
	New Democratic	5,663	12.12
	Liberal	3,485	7.46
	Green	2,568	5.50
	Others	255	0.55