Kenora—Rainy River (provincial electoral district)
Provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada
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Kenora—Rainy River is a provincial electoral district (riding) in northwestern Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999. It was created from Kenora, most of Rainy River and part of Lake Nipigon. The boundaries of the new district corresponded with the Kenora—Rainy River federal riding, until it was abolished in 2003. The provincial riding will continue to exist.
 Ontario electoral district | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Kenora—Rainy River in relation to other Northern Ontario electoral districts | |||
| Provincial electoral district | |||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly of Ontario | ||
| MPP |
Progressive Conservative | ||
| District created | 1999 | ||
| First contested | 1999 | ||
| Last contested | 2025 | ||
| Demographics | |||
| Population (2016)[1] | 53,027 | ||
| Electors (2018)[2] | 37,442 | ||
| Area (km²)[1] | 45,201 | ||
| Pop. density (per km²) | 1.2 | ||
| Census division(s) | Kenora, Rainy River | ||
| Census subdivision(s) | Chapple, Dryden, Emo, Fort Frances, Kenora, Rainy River | ||
A predominantly white, working class, and rural riding, Kenora-Rainy River was formerly a stronghold for the Ontario NDP. Greg Rickford of the Progressive Conservatives was elected its MPP in a dramatic swing to the right in 2018. The riding was previously represented by Sarah Campbell for the NDP and Howard Hampton, former leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party. The riding includes part of Kenora District, and the western three quarters of the Rainy River District.
History
In 1996, Ontario was divided into the same electoral districts as those used for federal electoral purposes. They were redistributed whenever a readjustment took place at the federal level.
In 2005, legislation was passed by the Legislature to divide Ontario into 107 electoral districts, beginning with the next provincial election in 2007. The eleven northern electoral districts, including Kenora—Rainy River, are those defined for federal purposes in 1996, based on the 1991 census (except for a minor boundary adjustment). The 96 southern electoral districts are those defined for federal electoral purposes in 2003, based on the 2001 census. Without this legislation, the number of electoral districts in northern Ontario would have been reduced from eleven to ten.[3]
Prior to the 2018 provincial election, the Ontario government's Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission proposed dividing Kenora—Rainy River into one riding for the urbanized southern portion of the current district, which will retain the name Kenora—Rainy River, and one riding for the predominantly Indigenous northern portion of the current district, to be named Kiiwetinoong.[4] The creation of Kiiwetinoong and Mushkegowuk—James Bay, another new northern riding, were approved with the passage of the Representation Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.[5]
Members
| Kenora—Rainy River | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party | |
| Riding created from Kenora, Rainy River and Lake Nipigon | ||||
| 37th | 1999–2003 | Howard Hampton | New Democratic | |
| 38th | 2003–2007 | |||
| 39th | 2007–2011 | |||
| 40th | 2011–2014 | Sarah Campbell | ||
| 41st | 2014–2018 | |||
| 42nd | 2018–2022 | Greg Rickford | Progressive Conservative | |
| 43rd | 2022–2025 | |||
| 44th | 2025–present | |||
Election results
| 2025 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Greg Rickford | 10,541 | 59.93 | +0.35 | ||||
| New Democratic | Rudy Turtle | 3,308 | 18.81 | –1.11 | ||||
| Liberal | Anthony Leek | 3,072 | 17.46 | +6.11 | ||||
| Green | John Redins | 336 | 1.91 | –1.88 | ||||
| New Blue | Randy Ricci | 333 | 1.89 | –0.55 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 17,590 | 99.29 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 125 | 0.71 | –0.74 | |||||
| Turnout | 17,715 | 47.18 | +6.97 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 37,548 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | +0.73 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[6][7] | ||||||||
| 2022 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Greg Rickford | 9,567 | 59.57 | +11.01 | $56,299 | |||
| New Democratic | Joanne Formanek Gustafson | 3,199 | 19.92 | –17.41 | $14,415 | |||
| Liberal | Anthony Leek | 1,823 | 11.35 | +0.77 | $32,991 | |||
| Green | Catherine Kiewning | 608 | 3.79 | +0.26 | $1,339 | |||
| New Blue | Kelvin Boucher-Chicago | 393 | 2.45 | – | $4,074 | |||
| Ontario Party | Larry Breiland | 276 | 1.72 | – | $0 | |||
| Consensus Ontario | Richard A. Jonasson | 98 | 0.61 | – | $0 | |||
| Independent | Mi'Azhikwan | 95 | 0.59 | – | $0 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 16,059 | 98.56 | – | $66,892 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 235 | 1.44 | +0.49 | |||||
| Turnout | 16,294 | 40.21 | –13.91 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 40,525 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | +14.21 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[8][9] | ||||||||
| 2018 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Greg Rickford | 9,748 | 48.57 | +19.06 | $62,932 | |||
| New Democratic | Glen Archer | 7,493 | 37.33 | –15.40 | $34,256 | |||
| Liberal | Karen Kejick | 2,123 | 10.58 | –4.31 | $15,033 | |||
| Green | Ember McKillop | 707 | 3.52 | +0.55 | $81 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 20,071 | 99.05 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 193 | 0.95 | ||||||
| Turnout | 20,264 | 54.12 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 37,442 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative notional gain from New Democratic | Swing | +17.23 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[10][11][12][13] | ||||||||
| 2014 general election redistributed results[14] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| New Democratic | 9,410 | 52.73 | |
| Progressive Conservative | 5,266 | 29.51 | |
| Liberal | 2,657 | 14.89 | |
| Green | 513 | 2.87 | |
| 2014 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Sarah Campbell | 12,889 | 55.66 | +6.04 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Randy Nickle | 5,905 | 25.50 | –12.15 | ||||
| Liberal | Anthony Leek | 3,652 | 15.77 | +5.79 | ||||
| Green | Timothy McKillop | 711 | 3.07 | +1.30 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 23,157 | 99.31 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 161 | 0.69 | +0.40 | |||||
| Turnout | 23,318 | 46.72 | +0.97 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 49,912 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +9.09 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[15][16] | ||||||||
| 2011 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Sarah Campbell | 10,949 | 49.62 | –11.00 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Rod McKay | 8,307 | 37.65 | +25.95 | ||||
| Liberal | Anthony Leek | 2,202 | 9.98 | –14.44 | ||||
| Green | JoJo Holiday | 391 | 1.77 | –1.49 | ||||
| Northern Ontario Heritage | Charmaine Romaniuk | 216 | 0.98 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 22,065 | 99.71 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 65 | 0.29 | –0.57 | |||||
| Turnout | 22,130 | 45.75 | –0.41 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 48,369 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | –18.47 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[17][18][19] | ||||||||
| 2007 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Howard Hampton | 14,281 | 60.62 | +0.50 | ||||
| Liberal | Mike Wood | 5,752 | 24.42 | –1.47 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Penny Lucas | 2,757 | 11.70 | –1.13 | ||||
| Green | JoJo Holiday | 769 | 3.26 | +2.09 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 23,559 | 99.14 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 205 | 0.86 | +0.26 | |||||
| Turnout | 23,764 | 46.16 | –2.41 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 51,482 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +0.99 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[20][21][22] | ||||||||
| 2003 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Howard Hampton | 15,666 | 60.12 | +15.38 | ||||
| Liberal | Geoff McClain | 6,746 | 25.89 | –9.26 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Cathe M. Hoszowski | 3,343 | 12.83 | –4.36 | ||||
| Green | Daniel King | 305 | 1.17 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 26,060 | 99.40 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 158 | 0.60 | –0.06 | |||||
| Turnout | 26,218 | 48.57 | –9.02 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 53,981 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +12.32 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[23][24][25] | ||||||||
| 1999 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| New Democratic | Howard Hampton | 14,269 | 44.74 | |||||
| Liberal | Frank Miclash | 11,209 | 35.14 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Lynn Beyak | 5,483 | 17.19 | |||||
| Independent | Richard R. Bruyere | 934 | 2.93 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 31,895 | 99.34 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 212 | 0.66 | ||||||
| Turnout | 32,107 | 57.59 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 55,752 | |||||||
| New Democratic pickup new district. | ||||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[26][27] | ||||||||
2007 electoral reform referendum
| 2007 Ontario electoral reform referendum | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Side | Votes | % | |
| First Past the Post | 15,494 | 69.9 | |
| Mixed member proportional | 6,684 | 30.1 | |
| Total valid votes | 22,178 | 100.0 | |