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.
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.
, 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'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.
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. 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.