What is "kewatinook"

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.