Churchill-Keewatinook Aski is the largest riding in Manitoba, encompassing the entire top half of the province with Nunavut to the north.

Candidates

Conservative: Kyle Mirecki
Green: August Hastmann
Liberal: Rebecca Chartrand
Libertarian: Zachary Linnick
NDP: Niki Ashton (I)

Last Election

New Democrat Niki Ashton won her second consecutive seat in the riding by more than 5,000 votes ahead of Conservative Wally Daudrich.

History

  • Churchill riding was formed in 1933.
  • Conservative MPs for the riding include Robert Simpson 1957-1972; Keith Taylor, 1972-1974 and Cecil Smith, 1974-1979.
  • New Democrat Rod Murphy defeated Smith and sat 1979-1993.
  • Liberal Elijah Harper won in 1993. He is best known for his role in stopping ratification of the Meech Lake Accord when he was a New Democratic MLA in Manitoba from 1981 until 1992.
  • In the next two votes, New Democrat Bev Desjarlais defeated Harper.
  • In 2004, Desjarlais won, but opposed the NDP stand on same-sex marriage and in 2006 ran third as an Independent.
  • Liberal Tina Keeper won then, but lost in 2008 to the NDP’s Niki Ashton.
  • Ashton, who is the daughter of Manitoba provincial NDP MLA Steve Ashton, won again in 2011.

Boundaries

  • The top of the entire province with Nunavut to the north.
  • Flin Flon, in the centre of the west border, was founded in 1927 by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting to mine copper and zinc and smelt it with power from a 101 megawatt plant at nearby Island Falls, Sask.
  • Peguis First Nation is the largest of 10 First Nations in the riding, with 2,609 people.

Industries

  • Thompson was established by INCO in 1956 and mines, smelts and refines nickel, some from Voisey’s Bay, Labrador.
  • New mines have helped the area survive. Lynn Lake ,with a defunct gold mine, is struggling.
  • Churchill, on Hudson Bay, exports grain and is heralded as one of Manitoba's treasured tourism destinations for visitors to see northern wildlife such as polar bears, caribou and beluga whales.
  • Manitoba Hydro has a 200 MW hydro dam.
  • Chrysler, Ford and Hummer cold-weather tests cars here, and the National Research Council tests aircraft engines.
  • The Pas Tolko pulp mill received $2.2 million boiler upgrade in 2012, which feds said would make boiler cleaner.
  • Market gardening and cash crops grow well in the Saskatchewan River delta during the long days of summer.

See an interactive map of all Manitoba ridings here.