Fort Garry (electoral district)

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 within only 30 votes of 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 and Fort Richmond, with a portion going to St. Norbert. 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

Name	Party	Took Office	Left Office
Sterling Lyon	PC	1958	1969
Bud Sherman	PC	1969	1984
Charles Birt	PC	1984	1988
Laurie Evans	Lib	1988	1990
Rosemary Vodrey	PC	1990	1999
Joy Smith	PC	1999	2003
Kerri Irvin-Ross	NDP	2003	2011

Electoral results

Manitoba general election, 2007
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Kerri Irvin-Ross	4,291	52.60%	+5.62	$28,543.84
	Progressive Conservative	Shaun McCaffrey	2,101	25.75%	−20.05	$16,517.08
	Liberal	Craig Hildahl	1,500	18.39%	+11.49	$14,094.14
	Green	Alon Weinberg	266	3.26%	+3.25	$55.55
Total valid votes			8,158	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			36
Turnout			8,194	66.06	+2.57
Electors on the lists			12,404

^[1]

Manitoba general election, 2003
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Kerri Irvin-Ross	3,852	46.75	+3.29	$21,049.74
	Progressive Conservative	Joy Smith	3,765	45.69	+1.93	$29,935.35
	Liberal	Taran Malik	562	6.82	−4.45	$13,984.00
	Independent	Didz Zuzens	61	0.74	+0.74	$395.34
Total valid votes			8,240	99.34
Rejected and declined votes			55
Turnout			8,295	63.49	−11.60
Electors on the lists			13,066

Manitoba general election, 1999
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Joy Smith	4,436	43.76		$28,543.84
	New Democratic	Lawrie Cherniack	4,406	43.46		$29,325.00
	Liberal	Ted Gilson	1,143	11.27	–	$9,808.98
	Manitoba Party	Denise Van Rooyen	116	1.14		$1,032.59
Total valid votes			10,101	99.64
Rejected and declined votes			37
Turnout			10,138	75.09
Electors on the lists			13,502

References

1. http://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/en/Results/39_division_results/39_fort-garry_summary_results.html

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