Churchill—Keewatinook Aski (Manitoba) 69/338

 Churchill—Keewatinook Aski (Manitoba)

Today we're in Manitoba with Churchill—Keewatinook Aski!

Churchill—Keewatinook Aski has existed as a riding since 1935, renamed from the previous Nelson riding. The population was 87,027 in 2016. The major population centers are Thompson (13,678 in 2016), The Pas (5,369 in 2016), and Flin Flon (4,982 in 2016). This riding has the highest percentage of indigenous peoples, 76.3% of the population identifies as indigenous.

Politically, this seat has been safe for the NDP since 1979, with two exceptions: the 1993 Liberal sweep, and the 2006 election. In 2005, NDP MP Bev Desjarlais voted against the Civil Marriage Act (Same-Sex Marriage), and as such was dropped by the party and ran as an independent, allowing the Liberal to win the riding. The riding is currently represented by NDP MP Niki Ashton.

Niki Ashton was first elected in 2008, and was a contender for the leadership of the federal NDP in 2017. Ultimately, she finished third behind Charlie Angus and Jagmeet Singh. Her father, Steve Ashton, was a longtime Manitoba MLA, serving from 1981-2016. He ran for the Manitoba NDP leadership twice, but was defeated both times. In 2019, this seat was 9/14 in Manitoba and 239/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 7.2/10 - It seems a bit wordy, I'm not quite sure why they changed the name in 2012.

Shape: 6.4/10 - Most of it is borders, so that is fine, but the lake section is just way too messy.

Individuality: 6.7/10 - It's cool how high the indigenous population is, but it is pretty typical for the Canadian north.

Total: 20.3/30 (67.7%)

See you on Monday when we discuss a riding close to my heart, Cloverdale—Langley City!