DesnethéâÂÂMissinippiâÂÂChurchill River (; formerly known as Churchill River) is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.
This is a rural riding located in northern Saskatchewan. The riding encompasses the northern half of the province and is the third largest federal riding, that is located in a province, in Canada, trumped only by ChurchillâÂÂKeewatinook Aski in Manitoba and AbitibiâÂÂBaie-JamesâÂÂNunavikâÂÂEeyou in Quebec. The territorial ridings of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut are also larger.
The 2023 redistribution order removed most of the territory outside of the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District from the riding, reducing its population considerably.
Languages: 64.6% English, 21.3% Cree, 10.8% Dene, 1.3% French <br /> Religions: 76.8% Christian (41.5% Catholic, 18.5% Anglican, 4.1% United Church, 2.5% Lutheran, 1.6% Pentecostal, 8.5% Other), 2.7% Traditional Aboriginal Spirituality, 20.4% No religion <br /> Median income (2010): $18,910 <br /> Average income (2010): $28,554
DesnethéâÂÂMissinippiâÂÂChurchill River boasts the following demographic records:
The electoral district was created as "Churchill River" in 1996 from Prince AlbertâÂÂChurchill River, Mackenzie and The BattlefordsâÂÂMeadow Lake ridings.
In 2004, it was renamed "DesnethéâÂÂMissinippiâÂÂChurchill River".
This riding lost territory to Prince Albert and a fraction to YorktonâÂÂMelville, and gained a fraction of territory from Prince Albert during the 2012 electoral redistribution.
In the 2006 federal election, Liberal candidate Gary Merasty defeated incumbent Conservative MP Jeremy Harrison by a slim margin of 68 votes after trailing much of the election night, despite Harrison's vote increasing several points. Merasty's win raised issues of questionable tactics to increase voter turnout. However, an investigation conducted by Elections Canada determined that no wrongdoing had taken place.
In the 2015 federal election, New Democrat candidate Georgina Jolibois defeated the Liberal candidate, Lawrence Joseph, by a narrow margin of 71 votes. Joseph requested a judicial recount of the votes.
This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada: