This electoral district was created in 1872 when
Victoria District riding was abolished. It elected two members to the
House of Commons of Canada through
Block voting. Of the two it elected in 1872, one (
Henry Nathan Jr.) was the first Jewish MP of Canada; the other (
William Alexander "Amor De Cosmos" Smith) served as MP while also serving as
premier of British Columbia. In 1878, Sir
John A. Macdonald was parachuted into the riding, as he was unelectable in eastern Canada, in the wake of the
Pacific Scandal. Macdonald, previously the MP for the
Marquette riding in
Manitoba, had to run in a by-election as he had been appointed to the cabinet (to serve as
prime minister). He chose Victoria, which had not yet held its portion of the
1878 Canadian federal election. Victorians voted for him enthusiastically, as he promised to finally bring about the construction of what became the
Canadian Pacific Railway. He did not run for re-election in Victoria, instead securing a safe seat in Ontario in
1882. It was abolished in 1903, and its territory was divided between the new single-member ridings of
Victoria City and
Nanaimo. It was re-created in 1924 from the Victoria City riding, electing one member to the House of Commons. A redistribution in 1966 trimmed the size of the riding slightly, removing parts of Saanich west of Cedar Hill Road and north of Cedar Hill Cross Road. Victoria was one of two electoral districts in British Columbia that saw no changes to its boundaries proposed following the
2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution.
Members of Parliament This riding has elected the following
members of Parliament: {| class="wikitable"
Current member of Parliament The current member of Parliament for Victoria is
Will Greaves. He is a member of the
Liberal Party of Canada. ==Riding associations==