Turtle Mountain (electoral district)

Turtle Mountain was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created with the westward expansion of the province's boundaries in 1881, eliminated by redistribution in 1968, and re-established in 1979, formally returned to the electoral map with the provincial election of 1981, was dissolved for the 2011 election and will return once again for the 2019 Manitoba general election.

The 1998-2011 boundaries for Turtle Mountain highlighted in red

Turtle Mountain was located in the southwestern region of the province. It was bounded to the north by Ste. Rose, to the west by Minnedosa and Arthur-Virden, to the east by Pembina, Carman and Portage la Prairie, and south to the American state of North Dakota.

The riding was primarily rural. Communities in the riding included Killarney, Carberry, Glenboro, Pilot Mound and MacGregor.

The riding's population in 1996 was 18,569. In 1999, the average family income was $43,265, and the unemployment rate was 3.50%. Agriculture accounted for 37% of all industry in the riding, followed by health and social service work at 9%. Thirteen per cent of the riding's residents were German.

Turtle Mountain was represented by the Progressive Conservative Party for most of its history, and was considered safe for that party. It was in Tory hands for all but six years after 1922 in its first incarnation, and was held by the Tories at all times in its second incarnation. The last MLA was Cliff Cullen, who was elected in a 2004 by-election.

Following the 2008 electoral redistribution, the riding was dissolved into the new ridings of Agassiz, Midland, and Spruce Woods. This change took effect for the 2011 election. Cullen transferred to Spruce Woods.

Following the 2018 redistribution, Turtle Mountain will be re-created out of Arthur-Virden, Spruce Woods and Midland and will first be contested in the 2019 Manitoba general election. The riding will contain the municipalities of Two Borders, Melita, Grassland, Brenda-Waskada, Deloraine-Winchester, Boissevain-Morton (previously in Arthur-Virden), Prairie Lakes, Killarney - Turtle Mountain, Argyle, Cartwright-Roblin (previously in Spruce Woods) and Lorne, Swan Lake 7, Louise and Pembina (previously in Midland). As of the 2016 Census, 8,294 (36%) people were in the Arthur-Virden portion of the riding, 7,215 (31%) were in the Spruce Woods portion and 7,653 (33%) were in the Midland portion, for a total population of 23,612.[1]

The riding is named for Turtle Mountain Provincial Park.[2]

List of provincial representatives

Name	Party	Took Office	Left Office
J.P. Alexander	Cons	1881	1883
Finlay Young	Lib	1883	1888
John Hettle	Lib	1888	1897
James Johnson	Independent Conservative	1897	1903
	Cons	1903	1915
George William McDonald	Lib	1915	1922
Richard Willis	Cons	1922	1929
Alexander Welch	Cons/PC	1929	1945
Errick Willis	PC	1945	1959
Edward Dow	Lib-Prog	1959	1961
	Lib	1961	1962
Peter J. McDonald	PC	1962	1966
Edward Dow	Lib	1966	1969
Riding abolished
Brian Ransom	PC	1981	1986
Denis Rocan	PC	1986	1990
Bob Rose	PC	1990	1995
Merv Tweed	PC	1995	2004
Cliff Cullen	PC	2004	2011
Riding abolished
Doyle Piwniuk	PC	2019

Electoral results

2019–present

2019 Manitoba general election
** Preliminary results — Not yet official **
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Doyle Piwniuk	6,162	67.65	-8.5
	Green	David M. Neufeld	1,350	14.82	+11.4
	New Democratic	Angie Herrera-Hildebrand	990	10.87	+2.2
	Liberal	Richard Davies	607	6.66	+2.3
Total valid votes			9,109	100.0
Total rejected ballots
Turnout				59.9
Eligible voters
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-9.9

2016 provincial election redistributed results[3]
Party		%
	Progressive Conservative	76.1
	New Democratic	8.7
	Manitoba	7.4
	Liberal	4.4
	Green	3.4

1981–2007

1981 Manitoba general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Brian Ransom	4,775	72.36
	New Democratic	Joan Johannson	1,660	25.16
	Independent	Bill Rainbow Harrison	164	2.49
Total valid votes			6,599	100.00
Rejected and declined ballots			33
Turnout			6,632	62.96
Electors on the lists			10,533

1999 Manitoba general election: Turtle Mountain
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Mervin Tweed	4,037	55.79		$22,666.64
	New Democratic	Janet Brady	1,902	26.29		$3,995.00
	Liberal	Lorne Hanks	1,247	17.23	–	$3,988.93
Total valid votes			7,186	100.00
Rejected ballots			50
Turnout			7,236	58.81
Registered voters			12,305

[4]

June, 2003:[5]

• (x) Mervin Tweed (PC) 3956
• Lonnie Patterson (NDP) 1893
• Bev Leadbeater (L) 743

Manitoba provincial by-election, July 2, 2004: Turtle Mountain
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Cliff Cullen	3,632	63.01	$11,273.31
	Liberal	Bev Leadbeter	1,084	18.81	$2,256.63
	New Democratic	Betty Storie	1,048	18.18	$12,037.72
Total valid votes			5,764	100.00
Rejected ballots			12
Turnout			5,778	47.10
Registered voters			12,267

2007 Manitoba general election: Turtle Mountain
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Cliff Cullen	4,318	65.67	+2.66	$15,425.52
	New Democratic	Faron Douglas	1,476	22.45	+3.65	$3,785.64
	Liberal	Allen Hunter	739	11.24	−7.56	$3,458.77
Total valid votes			6,533	99.36
Rejected ballots			42
Turnout			6,575	54.39	+7.29
Registered voters			12,089

[6]

References

1. Statistics Canada, 2016 Canada Census
2. http://www.boundariescommission.mb.ca/wp-content/uploads/edbc-final-report-2018-en.pdf
3. Marcoux, Jacques (2019-08-27). "New Manitoba election boundaries give upper hand to Progressive Conservatives, CBC News analysis finds". CBC. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
4. Official Results — 39th General Election, accessed December 2010
5. http://www.elections.mb.ca/en/Results/38_division_results/38_turtle-mountain_summary_results.html
6. 39 summary