Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.Geography
This is a rural riding located in northern Saskatchewan. The riding encompasses the northern half of the province and is the third largest federal riding, that is located in a province, in Canada, trumped only by Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba and Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou in Quebec. The territorial ridings of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut are also larger.Demographics
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, 2.7% Traditional Aboriginal Spirituality, 20.4% No religion
Median income : $18,910
Average income : $28,554
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River boasts the following demographic records:
- Highest % of people of the Métis aboriginal group
- Highest % of people of Métis ethnic origin
- Highest % of people with Dene as their mother tongue
History
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.In the 2015 federal election, New Democrat candidate Georgina Jolibois defeated the Liberal candidate, Lawrence Joseph, by a narrow margin of 71 votes. Joseph requested a judicial recount of the votes.Members of Parliament
This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:Election results
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, 2004–present
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in the 2000 election.Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in the 1997 election.
