Fort Garry (electoral district)

Fort Garry

Manitoba electoral district
The 1999-2011 boundaries for Fort Garry highlighted in red.
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
MLA	Kerri Irvin-Ross New Democratic
District created	1957
First contested	1958
Last contested	2007

Fort Garry was a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1957, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1958. The riding is located in the south-central region of the City of Winnipeg. It was named for the historical Fort Garry which was occupied by supporters of Louis Riel during the Red River Rebellion of 1870.

Fort Garry was bordered on the east by Riel, to the south by St. Norbert, to the north by Lord Roberts, and to the west by Fort Whyte. It was a mostly middle-class residential area, with some small businesses. The University of Manitoba was located in the riding.

The riding's population in 1996 was 20,383. In 1999, the average family income was $50,720, and the unemployment rate was 6.40% (though, conversely, it may be noted that 26% of the riding's residents are listed as low-income). Over 16% of Fort Garry's residents were immigrants, with 5% listing German as their ethnic origin. Almost 23% of the riding's residents have a University degree.

The service sector accounted for 17% of Fort Garry's industry, with a further 12% in the retail trade and 12% in educational services.

Historically, Fort Garry was a safe seat for the Progressive Conservatives, who represented the riding from 1958 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 2003. In the provincial election of 1999, however, the NDP came extremely close to winning the riding. They made it their primary target in the election of 2003, and won it for the first time in their history.

The last MLA was Kerri Irvin-Ross of the NDP, who was re-elected in the 2007 provincial election with 53% of the vote.

For the 2011 election Fort Garry was largely divided between the new ridings of Fort Garry-Riverview, St. Norbert and Fort Richmond. Fort Garry-Riverview is considered a safe seat for the NDP, while Fort Richmond and St. Norbert are considered to be more competitive.

List of provincial representatives

Electoral results

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References

Coordinates: 49°49′48″N 97°09′25″W / 49.830°N 97.157°W / 49.830; -97.157