Keewatinook

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

Kewatinook

Manitoba electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
MLA	Judy Klassen Liberal
District created	1916
First contested	1916
Last contested	2016

Kewatinook is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The riding existed previously under the name Rupertsland. Starting with the 2011 election, the riding was renamed Kewatinook which means "from the north” in Cree.

It was created in 1916 from territories that were added to the province four years earlier, and has existed continuously since that time. Originally named Rupertsland, its name was changed as part of the 2008 riding redistribution by the Manitoba Boundaries Commission. Kewatinook is currently the largest riding in the province, a sprawling northern constituency which occupies a large portion of the eastern half of Manitoba. It was a smaller constituency until 1989, when it gained a significant amount of territory from the former riding of Churchill.

The current Kewatinook riding stretches from the Ontario border in the southeast to the Nunavut border in the north; it is also bordered by Lac Du Bonnet to the south and Flin Flon, The Pas and Thompson to the west. Churchill, Manitoba is the most significant community in this wide region.

Elections in Kewatinook before 1966 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.

Kewatinook's population in 2006 was 15,560. 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 Kewatinook's residents are aboriginal, the highest percentage in the province. Over half the population list Cree as their mother tongue. In 1999, there was only a 1% immigrant population.

Prior to the 2016 election, The New Democratic Party represented the riding since 1969. The current MLA is Judy Klassen of the Liberal Party. Klassen defeated longtime MLA Eric Robinson to take the seat.

List of provincial representatives

Name	Party	Took Office	Left Office
John Morrison	Independent	1916	1920
	Lib	1920	1922
Francis Black	Prog	1922	1927
Herbert Beresford	Independent Progressive	1927	1932
Ewan McPherson	Lib-Prog	1932	1936
Michael Rojeski	Lib/Non-Coalition	1936	1941
Daniel Hamilton	Lib-Prog	1941	1953
Roy Brown	Lib-Prog	1953	1958
Joseph Jeannotte	PC	1958	1969
Jean Allard	NDP	1969	1972
	Independent	1972	1973
Harvey Bostrom	NDP	1973	1981
Elijah Harper	NDP	1981	1992
Eric Robinson	NDP	1993	2016
Judy Klassen	Lib	2016	present

Electoral results

2016 Manitoba general election

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. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

2011 Manitoba general election

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.

2007 Manitoba general election

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.

2003 Manitoba general election

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.

1999 Manitoba general election

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.

Previous boundaries

The 1998-2011 boundaries for Rupertsland highlighted in red