River East

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River East is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was officially created by redistribution in 1979, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1981. The riding is located on the northeast corner of the City of Winnipeg. It is bordered by the Red River to the west, the city limit, by Springfield to the north and east, and by the riding of Rossmere to the south.

River East is an affluent district with an average income of $62,534 and an unemployment rate of 5.60% in 1999. It also has a large immigrant population, at 17% of the total population. Twelve per cent of River East's residents list German as their ethnic origin, while a further 9% list Ukrainian. The riding's total population in 1996 was 19,840.

It is currently the only riding in the northern part of Winnipeg to be represented by a Progressive Conservative. Bonnie Mitchelson has been the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the area since 1986, and has been re-elected five times. Once considered safe for the Progressive Conservatives, the seat has become extremely marginal for the party, with Mitchelson being re-elected in the 2007 provincial election by only 49 votes over a relatively unknown NDP candidate. Mitchelson's victory was seen by many as being attributable to her high profile in the community and constituency work rather than support for the Progressive Conservatives, and it is widely expected that the seat will be a top target for the NDP in the next election, particularly if Mitchelson retires.

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