Keewatinook

Keewatinook (previously spelt "Kewatinook") is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Manitoba.

For the similarly named territory formerly controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company, see Rupert's Land.

Keewatinook

Manitoba electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
MLA	Ian Bushie New Democratic
District created	1915
First contested	1915
Last contested	2023
Demographics
Population (2016)	20,815
Electors (2019)	13,422
Area (km²)	155,157
Pop. density (per km²)	0.13

The riding existed previously under the name Rupertsland; however, starting with the 2011 general election, the riding was renamed Kewatinook which means 'from the north' in Cree. Effective as of the 2019 election, the spelling was corrected to Keewatinook. ^[1]

Currently the largest riding in the province, Keewatinook is a sprawling northern constituency occupying a large portion of eastern Manitoba. Its current area stretches from the Ontario border in the southeast to the Nunavut border in the north; it is also bordered by the ridings of Lac Du Bonnet to the south and Flin Flon, The Pas, and Thompson to the west.

As of 2019^[update], Ian Bushie is the MLA for this riding. ^{[needs update]}

History

The division, originally named Rupertsland, was created in 1915 from territories that were added to the province of Manitoba four years earlier and has existed continuously since that time. The area had been part of the Grand Rapids and Churchill and Nelson electoral districts for the 1914 Manitoba general election.

Before 1966, elections in this riding were usually deferred until a later date than the rest of the province, due to the increased time it took to run elections in the region.

The riding's was originally smaller than its current size until 1989, when it gained a significant amount of territory from the former riding of Churchill.

As part of the 2008 riding redistribution by the Manitoba Boundaries Commission, its name was changed to Kewatinook (Cree for 'from the north') beginning with the 2011 general election. Effective as of the 2019 election, the spelling was corrected to Keewatinook.^[1]

Prior to the 2016 election, the New Democratic Party represented the riding from 1969 to 2016, when Judy Klassen of the Liberal Party defeated longtime MLA Eric Robinson. The NDP would regain control of the seat in 2019, with Ian Bushie defeating Liberal Jason Harper.

Demographics

Keewatinook's population in 2006 was 15,560.^[2] In 1999, the average family income was $33,787 (the fourth-lowest in Manitoba), and the unemployment rate was 25%. Over 34% of the riding's population have less than a Grade 9 education, the highest such rate in the province. Government services account for 21% of the riding's industry, followed by education services at 17%.

Eighty-seven per cent of Keewatinook's residents are Indigenous, the highest percentage in the province. Over half of the population list Cree as their mother tongue. In 1999, there was only a 1% immigrant population.

List of provincial representatives

Assembly	Years	Member		Party
Riding created from Grand Rapids and Churchill and Nelson
15th	1915-1920		John Morrison	Independent
16th	1920-1922			Liberal
17th	1922-1927		Francis Black	Progressive
18th	1927-1932		Herbert Beresford	Independent Progressive
19th	1932-1936		Ewan McPherson	Liberal–Progressive
20th	1936-1941		Michael Rojeski	Liberal
21st	1941-1945		Daniel Hamilton	Liberal–Progressive
22nd	1945-1949
23rd	1949-1953
24th	1953-1958		Roy Brown
25th	1958-1959		Joseph Jeannotte	Progressive Conservative
26th	1959-1963
27th	1963-1966
28th	1966-1969
29th	1969-1972		Jean Allard	New Democratic
	1972-1973			Independent
30th	1973-1977		Harvey Bostrom	New Democratic
31st	1977-1981
32nd	1981-1985		Elijah Harper
33rd	1985-1988
34th	1988-1990
35th	1990-1992
	1992-1995		Eric Robinson
36th	1995-1999
37th	1999-2003
38th	2003-2007
39th	2007-2011
Keewatinook
40th	2011-2016		Eric Robinson	New Democratic
41st	2016–2019		Judy Klassen	Liberal
42nd	2019–2023		Ian Bushie	New Democratic
43rd	2023–present

Electoral results

1916 by-election

Manitoba provincial by-election, 1916: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John Morrison		0.00
Total valid votes				–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			N/A	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1920

1920 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Morrison		0.00	–
Total valid votes				–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			N/A	–	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1922

1922 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Black		0.00	–
Total valid votes				–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			N/A	–	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1927

1927 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive	Herbert Beresford	235	49.37	–
	Liberal	Frederick Charles Hamilton	160	33.61	–
	Conservative	Hyman Yewdall	81	17.02	–
Total valid votes			476	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			640	74.38	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1932

1932 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Progressive	Ewan McPherson	319	48.41	–
	Liberal–Progressive	Herbert Beresford	229	34.75	–
	Independent	Capt. Evan Atkinson	111	16.84	–
Total valid votes			659	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			908	72.58	-1.80
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1936

1936 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Oddur Olafson	686	60.49	–
	Conservative	William Walker Kennedy	448	39.51	–
Total valid votes			1,134	–	–
Rejected			17	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			1,885	61.06	-11.52
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1941

1941 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Progressive	Daniel Hamilton	683	69.69	–
	Independent	G. L. Van Vliet	297	30.31	–
Total valid votes			980	–	–
Rejected			20	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			1,537	65.06	4.00
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1945

1945 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Progressive	Daniel Hamilton	438	48.78	-20.92
	Liberal–Progressive	Oddur Olafson	230	25.61	-44.08
	Liberal–Progressive	Walter Henry Gabriel "Harry" Gibbs	175	19.49	-50.21
	Labor–Progressive	Melvin Reid Burritt	55	6.12	–
Total valid votes			898	–	–
Rejected			25	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			1,100	83.91	18.85
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1949

1949 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Daniel Hamilton		0.00	–
Total valid votes				–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			1,448	0.00	-83.91
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1953

1953 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal–Progressive	Roy Brown	1,138	48.95	–
	Independent Liberal	Harry Boulette	1,001	43.05	–
	Independent	Charles Leo Abbott	186	8.00	–
Total valid votes			2,325	–	–
Rejected			92	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			4,196	57.60	57.60
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1958

1958 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Joseph Jeannotte	2,342	72.80	–
	Liberal–Progressive	Roy Brown	511	15.88	-33.06
	Independent	Asta Austmann Oddson	364	11.31	–
Total valid votes			3,217	–	–
Rejected			23	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			4,697	68.98	11.38
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1959

1959 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Joseph Jeannotte	2,268	69.83	-2.97
	Liberal–Progressive	Harry Boulette	587	18.07	2.19
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Alfred J. Cook	393	12.10	–
Total valid votes			3,248	–	–
Rejected			28	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			4,870	67.27	-1.71
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1962

1962 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Joseph Jeannotte	2,329	70.47	0.64
	Liberal	Reginald McKay	515	15.58	–
	New Democratic	Thomas Hamilton	461	13.95	–
Total valid votes			3,305	–	–
Rejected			45	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			6,653	50.35	-16.92
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1966

1966 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Joseph Jeannotte	1,865	58.63	-11.84
	Liberal	Jean René Allard	953	29.96	14.38
	New Democratic	Douglas A. MacLachlan	363	11.41	-2.54
Total valid votes			3,181	–	–
Rejected			33	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			5,737	56.02	5.67
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1969

1969 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Jean René Allard	1,366	38.65	27.24
	Liberal	S. P. "Bert" Berthelette	1,142	32.31	2.36
	Progressive Conservative	Paul Burelle	1,026	29.03	-29.60
Total valid votes			3,534	–	–
Rejected			32	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			5,436	65.60	9.58
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1973

1973 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Harvey Bostrom	2,093	46.44	7.79
	Liberal	John Ateah	1,329	29.49	-2.83
	Progressive Conservative	Raymond Guiboche	504	11.18	-17.85
	Independent	David "Dave" Courchene	415	9.21	–
	Independent	Lorne Lester	166	3.68	–
Total valid votes			4,507	–	–
Rejected			52	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			6,296	72.41	6.81
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1977

1977 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Harvey Bostrom	2,141	47.50	1.07
	Progressive Conservative	George R. Weiss	1,625	36.06	24.87
	Liberal	Norman Gunn	741	16.44	-13.05
Total valid votes			4,507	–	–
Rejected			28	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			6,809	66.60	-5.81
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1981

1981 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Elijah Harper	3,032	69.48	21.97
	Liberal	Allan Ross	1,004	23.01	6.57
	Progressive Conservative	Nelson Scribe	272	6.23	-29.82
	Progressive	Frances Thompson	56	1.28	–
Total valid votes			4,364	–	–
Rejected			76	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			8,271	53.68	-12.92
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1986

1986 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Elijah Harper	2,302	60.42	-9.06
	Progressive Conservative	Leonard McKay	931	24.44	18.20
	Liberal	Ed Price	577	15.14	-7.86
Total valid votes			3,810	–	–
Rejected			39	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			9,172	41.96	-11.72
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1988

1988 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Elijah Harper	2,206	51.75	-8.67
	Progressive Conservative	Joe Guy Wood	1,419	33.29	8.85
	Liberal	Maurice Berens	638	14.97	-0.18
Total valid votes			4,263	–	–
Rejected			2	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			9,884	43.15	1.19
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1990

1990 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Elijah Harper	3,798	77.37	25.62
	Progressive Conservative	Hugh Wynne	804	16.38	-16.91
	Liberal	George Kernaghan	307	6.25	-8.71
Total valid votes			4,909	–	–
Rejected			19	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			10,575	46.60	3.45
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1993 by-election

Manitoba provincial by-election, 1993: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	1,648	49.43	-27.94
	Liberal	George Munroe	1,023	30.68	24.43
	Progressive Conservative	Eric Kennedy	663	19.89	3.51
Total valid votes			3,334	–	–
Rejected			N/A	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			N/A	–	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1995

v t e 1995 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	2,249	50.80	1.37	$22,077.00
	Liberal	Harry Wood	1,018	23.00	-7.69	$25,182.52
	Progressive Conservative	Eric Kennedy	619	13.98	-5.90	$8,427.91
	First Peoples Party	Jerry Fontaine	541	12.22	–	$14,852.48
Total valid votes			4,427	–	–
Rejected			22	–
Eligible voters / turnout			9,924	44.83	–
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

1999

v t e 1999 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	2,007	59.15	8.35	$25,058.00
	Liberal	Darcy Wood	708	20.87	-2.13	$28,387.14
	Progressive Conservative	Fred Harper	678	19.98	6.00	$31,774.52
Total valid votes			3,393	–	–
Rejected			12	–
Eligible voters / turnout			8,791	38.73	-6.10
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2003

v t e 2003 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	2,203	87.52	28.37	$17,690.80
	Liberal	Orville Woodford	162	6.44	-14.43	$2,564.46
	Progressive Conservative	Cory Phillips	152	6.04	-13.94	$450.94
Total valid votes			2,517	–	–
Rejected			17	–
Eligible voters / turnout			9,011	28.12	-10.61
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2003). Statement of Votes for the 38th Provincial General Election, June 3, 2003 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2007

v t e 2007 Manitoba general election: Rupertsland
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	2,092	58.45	-29.07	$23,296.64
	Progressive Conservative	David Harper	1,285	35.90	29.86	$8,233.12
	Liberal	Earl Fontaine	202	5.64	-0.79	$3,911.36
Total valid votes			3,579	–	–
Rejected			15	–
Eligible voters / turnout			10,727	33.50	5.38
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2007). Statement of Votes for the 39th Provincial General Election, May 22, 2007 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2011

v t e 2011 Manitoba general election: Kewatinook
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	2,043	56.81	−1.40	$39,824.28
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Birch	1,389	38.62	+2.87	$35,204.76
	Green	Philip Green	94	2.61	–	$1,571.33
	Liberal	Orville Woodford	49	1.36	−4.26	$0
Total valid votes			3,575	–
Rejected			22	–
Eligible voters / turnout			10,081	35.68
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2011). Statement of Votes for the 40th Provincial General Election, October 4, 2011 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2016

2016 provincial election redistributed results[3]
Party		%
	Liberal	42.0
	New Democratic	40.7
	Progressive Conservative	17.2

v t e 2016 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Judy Klassen	1,565	49.73	48.36	$30,958.72
	New Democratic	Eric Robinson	1,207	38.35	-18.79	$34,619.23
	Progressive Conservative	Edna Nabess	375	11.92	-26.94	$24,449.08
Total valid votes			3,147	–	–
Rejected			135	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,500	24.31	-11.37
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+33.42
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2016). Statement of Votes for the 41st Provincial General Election, April 19, 2016 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba."Candidates: 41st General Election". Elections Manitoba. March 29, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.

2019

v t e 2019 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Ian Bushie	1,932	67.08	28.73	$6,214.15
	Liberal	Jason Harper	535	18.58	-31.15	$4,369.37
	Progressive Conservative	Arnold Flett	413	14.34	2.42	none listed
Total valid votes			2,880	–	–
Rejected			52	–
Eligible voters / Turnout			13,422	21.84	-2.47
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+23.3
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). Statement of Votes for the 42nd Provincial General Election, September 10, 2019 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.

2023

v t e 2023 Manitoba general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Ian Bushie	1,820	59.28	-7.80	$13,875.86
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Birch	1,058	34.46	+20.12	not filed
	Liberal	Nellie Wood Monias	192	6.25	-12.32	$1,614.02
Total valid votes/Expense limit			3,070	98.27	–	$49,634.00
Total rejected and declined ballots			54	1.73	–
Turnout			3,124	39.14	+17.29
Eligible voters			7,982
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-13.96
Source(s) Source: Elections Manitoba[4][5][6]

Previous boundaries

The 1998-2011 boundaries for Rupertsland highlighted in red

References

1. "Manitoba Electoral Divisions Boundaries Commission Final Report 2018" (PDF). Retrieved July 11, 2019.
2. "Kewatinook Electoral District". Boundaries Commission of Manitoba. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
3. Marcoux, Jacques (August 27, 2019). "New Manitoba election boundaries give upper hand to Progressive Conservatives, CBC News analysis finds". CBC. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
4. "Summary of Votes Received" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
5. "CANDIDATE ELECTION RETURNS GENERAL ELECTION 2023". Elections Manitoba. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
6. "2023 GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE AND REGISTERED PARTY ELECTION EXPENSE LIMITS - FINAL EXPENSE LIMIT" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Retrieved May 4, 2024.

55.453°N 93.779°W / 55.453; -93.779