Keewatinook

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Canada electoral district

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

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. <ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.

Template:As of, Ian Bushie is the MLA for this riding.

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 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.<ref name=":0" />

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Template:OntMPP NoData

Assembly	Years	Member		Party Template:OntMPP NoData	15th	1915-1920	Template:Canadian party colour\|	John Morrison	Independent
16th	1920-1922	Template:Canadian party colour\|	Liberal					John Morrison
17th	1922-1927	Template:Canadian party colour\|	Francis Black	Progressive
18th	1927-1932	Template:Canadian party colour\|	Herbert Beresford	Independent Progressive
19th	1932-1936	rowspan=6 Template:Canadian party colour \|	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	rowspan=4 Template:Canadian party colour\|	Joseph Jeannotte	Progressive Conservative
26th	1959-1963
27th	1963-1966
28th	1966-1969
29th	1969-1972	Template:Canadian party colour\|	Jean Allard	New Democratic
29th	1972-1973	Template:Canadian party colour\|	Jean Allard	Independent
30th	1973-1977	rowspan=11 Template:Canadian party colour\|	Harvey Bostrom	New Democratic
31st	1977-1981		Harvey Bostrom
32nd	1981-1985	Elijah Harper
33rd	1985-1988
34th	1988-1990
35th	1990-1992
35th	1992-1995	Eric Robinson
36th	1995-1999
37th	1999-2003
38th	2003-2007
39th	2007-2011
40th	2011-2016	Template:Canadian party colour\|	Eric Robinson	New Democratic
41st	2016–2019	Template:Canadian party colour\|	Judy Klassen	Liberal
42nd	2019–2023	rowspan=2 Template:Canadian party colour\|	Ian Bushie	New Democratic
43rd	2023–present		Ian Bushie	New Democratic