Saskatchewan electoral district | |||
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Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River in relation to other Saskatchewan federal electoral districts as of the 2013 Representation Order.
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Federal electoral district | |||
Legislature | House of Commons | ||
MP |
New Democratic |
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District created | 1996 | ||
First contested | 1997 | ||
Last contested | 2015 | ||
District webpage | profile, map | ||
Demographics | |||
Population (2011) | 69,471 | ||
Electors (2015) | 43,128 | ||
Area (km²) | 342,903 | ||
Pop. density (per km²) | 0.2 | ||
Census divisions | Division No. 14, Division No. 15, Division No. 16, Division No. 17, Division No. 18 | ||
Census subdivisions | Meadow Lake, La Ronge, Meadow Lake No. 588, La Loche |
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River (French: Desnethé—Missinippi—Rivière Churchill; formerly known as Churchill River) is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.
This is a rural riding located in northern Saskatchewan. The riding encompasses the northern half of the province and serves as the second largest federal riding amongst the provinces, second only to riding of Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, which encompasses a sizeable portion of Manitoba.
Ethnic groups: 70.6% Aboriginal, 28.7% White
Languages: 64.6% English, 21.3% Cree, 10.8% Dene, 1.3% French
Religions: 76.8% Christian (41.5% Catholic, 18.5% Anglican, 4.1% United Church, 2.5% Lutheran, 1.6% Pentecostal, 8.5% Other), 2.7% Traditional Aboriginal Spirituality, 20.4% No religion
Median income (2010): $18,910
Average income (2010): $28,554
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River boasts the following demographic records:
The electoral district was created as "Churchill River" in 1996 from Prince Albert—Churchill River, Mackenzie and The Battlefords—Meadow Lake ridings.
In 2004, it was renamed "Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River".
This riding lost territory to Prince Albert and a fraction to Yorkton—Melville, and gained a fraction of territory from Prince Albert during the 2012 electoral redistribution.
In the 2006 federal election, Liberal candidate Gary Merasty defeated incumbent Conservative MP Jeremy Harrison by a slim margin of 68 votes after trailing much of the election night, despite Harrison's vote increasing several points. Merasty's win raised issues of questionable tactics to increase voter turnout. However, an investigation conducted by Elections Canada determined that no wrongdoing had taken place.