Fort Garry is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 province of Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

. It was created by redistribution in 1957, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1958

Manitoba general election, 1958

Manitoba's general election of June 16, 1958 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was the first to be held in Manitoba after a comprehensive electoral redistribution in 1956...

. The riding is located in the south-central region of the City of Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

; it is named for the historical Fort Garry

Fort Garry

Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company's Fort Gibraltar. Fort Garry was named after Nicholas...

 which was occupied by supporters of Louis Riel

Louis Riel

Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....

 during the Red River Rebellion

Red River Rebellion

The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance was the sequence of events related to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by the Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Settlement, in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.The Rebellion was the first crisis...

 of 1870.

Fort Garry is bordered on the east by Riel

Riel (electoral district)

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...

, to the south by St. Norbert, to the north by Lord Roberts

Lord Roberts (electoral district)

Lord Roberts is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba, located in the south-central section of the City of Winnipeg. It was created by redistribution in 1999, and consists primarily of territory taken from the now-defunct ridings of Osborne and Crescentwood...

, and to the west by Fort Whyte

Fort Whyte

Fort Whyte is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created in 1999, after the provincial electoral boundaries commission determined that southwestern Winnipeg had experienced enough population growth to deserve an extra seat. Fort Whyte was created from...

. It is a mostly middle-class residential area, with some small businesses. The University of Manitoba

University of Manitoba

The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...

 is located in the riding.

The riding's population in 1996 was 20,383. As of 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 are immigrants, with 5% listing German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 as their ethnic origin. Almost 23% of the riding's residents have a University degree.

The service sector accounts 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

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

, who represented the riding from 1958 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 2003. In the provincial election of 1999

Manitoba general election, 1999

The Manitoba general election of September 21, 1999 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada....

, however, the NDP came extremely close to winning the riding. They made it their primary target in the election of 2003

Manitoba general election, 2003

The Manitoba general election held on June 3, 2003 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which won 35 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party finished second with twenty seats...

, and won it for the first time in their history.

The current MLA is Kerri Irvin-Ross

Kerri Irvin-Ross

Kerri Irvin-Ross is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She is a current member of the Manitoba legislature.Irvin-Ross defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Joy Smith by 3852 votes to 3765 in the general election.-External Links:...

 of the NDP, who was re-elected in the 2007 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 2007

The Manitoba general election held on May 22, 2007 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which won 36 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party finished second with nineteen seats. The Liberal...

 with 53% of the vote.

In the next election Fort Garry will be largely divided between the new ridings of Fort Garry-Riverview

Fort Garry-Riverview

Fort Garry-Riverview is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 2008 and was created out of parts of Lord Roberts and Fort Garry....

, St. Norbert and Fort Richmond

Fort Richmond

Fort Richmond is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 2008 and was created out of parts of St. Norbert and Fort Garry....

. Fort Garry-Riverview

Fort Garry-Riverview

Fort Garry-Riverview is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 2008 and was created out of parts of Lord Roberts and Fort Garry....

 will likely be a safe seat for the NDP, while Fort Richmond

Fort Richmond

Fort Richmond is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 2008 and was created out of parts of St. Norbert and Fort Garry....

 and St. Norbert are expected to be more competitive.

List of provincial representatives

Name	Party	Took Office	Left Office
Sterling Lyon Sterling Lyon Sterling Rufus Lyon, PC, OC was a lawyer, cabinet minister, and the 17th Premier of Manitoba, Canada from 1977 to 1981. His government introduced several fiscally-conservative measures, and was sometimes seen as a local version of the government of Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom...	PC Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...	1958	1969
Bud Sherman Bud Sherman Louis Ralph Sherman is a retired politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Canadian House of Commons during the 1960s, and was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1969 to 1984, serving as a cabinet minister in the government of Sterling...	PC Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...	1969	1984
Charles Birt	PC Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...	1984	1988
Laurie Evans Laurie Evans Laurie E. Evans is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. Between 1988 and 1990, he served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, representing the riding of Fort Garry for the Manitoba Liberal Party....	Lib Manitoba Liberal Party The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...	1988	1990
Rosemary Vodrey Rosemary Vodrey Rosemary Vodrey is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1990 to 1999, and was a senior cabinet minister of the government of Gary Filmon.-Early life and career:...	PC Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...	1990	1999
Joy Smith Joy Smith Joy Ann Smith is a Canadian politician. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba between 1999 and 2003, and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 2004.-Education and business career:...	PC Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...	1999	2003
Kerri Irvin-Ross Kerri Irvin-Ross Kerri Irvin-Ross is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She is a current member of the Manitoba legislature.Irvin-Ross defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Joy Smith by 3852 votes to 3765 in the general election.-External Links:...	NDP New Democratic Party of Manitoba The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...	2003	2011

Electoral results