River Heights

A middle- and upper-middle class riding a little southwest of downtown Winnipeg, the riding includes the communities of north and south River Heights, Rockwood, J.B. Mitchell and Sir John Franklin.

It is one of the most affluent ridings with the third highest median income and the second lowest poverty rate for children under six.

It has one of, if not the, largest Jewish population in the province with one in 10 residents identified as Jewish. Visible minorities only account for seven per cent of residents.

It is slightly older than the provincial median age and extremely well educated with more than three in four residents between 25 and 65 having more than a high school diploma.

Services (accounting, insurance, architecture, banking etc) account for 15 per cent of the jobs.

 

Stats

Population: 20,555

Median age: 41

Immigrants: 14.7 per cent

Aboriginal population: 3.4 per cent

Living in poverty: 10.5 per cent

Median income: $33,897

 

Politics

The riding has been around for 60 years and was Conservative for the first half of that. However it has swung back and forth between the Liberals and Conservatives since 1986.

It is one of just two ridings the Liberals won in both 2003 and 2007 and is the home riding for Liberal leader Jon Gerrard. He won it by a significant margin in 2007 but the Tories have it in their sights to win back in this election.

It has one of the highest turnout rates of any riding, with almost seven in 10 registered voters casting a ballot in 2007.

 

2007 results

Jon Gerrard, LIB 4,760

Ashley Burner, PC 2,341

Fiona Shiells, NDP 1,843

Christine Bennet-Clark, GRN 378

Turnout: 69.34 per cent