Riel (electoral district)

File:Riel2011.jpg

The 2011+ boundaries for Riel highlighted in red.

Riel is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1968, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1969. The riding is located in the south-central region of the City of Winnipeg, and is named after Louis Riel, the leader of the 1870 Red River Rebellion.

Riel is bordered to the east by St. Vital, to the south by Seine River, to the north by St. Vital, and to the west by the ridings of Fort Richmond and Fort Garry-Riverview.

The riding's population in 1996 was 20,228. The riding's character is mostly middle-class and upper middle-class. In 1999, the average family income was $63,126, and the unemployment rate was 5.50%. Nine percent of the riding's residents are francophone.

The service industry accounts for 15% of Riel's economy, followed by health and social services at 12.5%.

Riel has usually been represented by candidates of the Progressive Conservative Party, although the New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) have won the seat on three occasions. The current MLA is New Democrat Christine Melnick, who defeated her Progressive Conservative opponent by a margin of about 53% to 38% in 2003. Melnick won again in the 2007 Manitoba election winning with 60% of the vote.

List of provincial representatives

Name	Party	Took Office	Left Office
Donald Craik	PC	1969	1981
Doreen Dodick	NDP	1981	1986
Gerry Ducharme	PC	1986	1995
David Newman	PC	1995	1999
Linda Asper	NDP	1999	2003
Christine Melnick	NDP	2003	present

Electoral results

Manitoba general election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Christine Melnick	5,352	54.69	−2.50
	Progressive Conservative	Rochelle Squires	3,916	40.02	+9.33
	Liberal	Cheryl Gilarski	480	4.90	−7.09
Total valid votes			9,748
Rejected and declined votes			38
Turnout			9,786	64.14
Registered voters			15,257

Manitoba general election, 2007
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Christine Melnick	4,883	57.19		$23,004.50
	Progressive Conservative	Trudy Turner	2,620	30.69		$34,539.37
	Liberal	Grant Woods	1024	11.99	–	$12,309.36
Total valid votes			8,538	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			51
Turnout			8,589	63.03
Registered voters			13,626

June 3, 2003:

• Christine Melnick (NDP) 4455 (54.03%)
• Shirley Render (PC) 3119 (37.83%)
• Kristopher Ade (L) 671 (8.14%)

Manitoba general election, 1999
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Linda Asper	4,883	46.68		$20,612.00
	Progressive Conservative	David Newman	4,559	44.03		$27,412.91
	Liberal	Clayton Weselowski	820	7.92	–	$3,179.52
	Manitoba Party	Mike Kubara	91	0.88		$3,179.52
Total valid votes			10,303	99.35
Rejected and declined votes			51
Turnout			10,354	76.08
Registered voters			13,610

Previous boundaries

File:Riel98.png

The 1999-2011 boundaries for Riel highlighted in red.