Winnipeg getting another MLA, as Manitoba ridings redrawn for next provincial election

Manitoba's political parties will have another riding in Winnipeg to fight over, after an independent body drew up new boundaries for nearly all of the province's electoral divisions and added two rural municipalities in the province's capital.

Altogether, the province will amend the boundaries of 56 of 57 ridings. Fourteen ridings will get new names,the Manitoba Electoral Divisions Boundaries Commission decided in afinal report released on Friday.

The boundaries are being altered due to population changes reflected in the 2016 census, in an effort to keep roughly 22,000 residents ineach riding. Areas of the province where the population has grown will now have smaller electoral divisions, geographically.

The new borders will be in effect when Manitoba voters head to the polls on Oct. 6, 2020.

Winnipeg will go from 31 to 32 ridings, in part because of the escalating population and the independent committee's decision to move the rural municipalities ofHeadingley and WestSt. Paul into city ridings.

Headingleywill now, along with Charleswood, be part of therenamed constituency ofRoblin. West St. Paul will become part of the newriding of McPhillips.

The Logan riding will be renamed Union Station to recognize the role of the railway in establishing Winnipeg, and becauseLogan Avenue will no longer cross through the riding.

The Minto electoral division will be renamed Notre Dame, since the MintoArmoury is no longer within its borders.

Population boomin Winnipeg suburbs

The growth in southwest Winnipeg will be reflected in the updated boundaries.

The Fort Whyte riding will encompass Linden Woods, Linden Ridge and Whyte Ridge.South Pointe and Bridgwater will be consolidated to create the ridingof Waverley.

In eastern Winnipeg, the St. Norbert and Seine River ridings will be combined. The electoral commission says the decision unites significant histories and interests.

The new riding ofLagimodirewill encompass the growing Sage Creek subdivision.

Outside the capital, Brandon will be divided into three segments. The west and east will be separatedby 18th Street, and areas north of the Assiniboine River will becomepart of the Spruce Woods electoral division.

Farther east, the boundaries of the Morden-Winklerconstituency werereduced in sizeto reflect increasing populations.

The Midland riding will expand east to include a large part of theconstituency that was once Morris.

In the Interlake, the northern segment of the region will become part of a new riding called The Pas-Kameesak, which now encompasses the area around the western side of Lake Winnipeg. Kameesakmeans "big" in Cree, which the boundaries commission says is a likely reference to the lake.

The commission made numerous changes in southeastern Manitoba.

The municipalities of Ritchot, the town of Niverville and the western part of the Springfield municipality will be grouped together, because of their shared interests and proximity to Winnipeg. The riding will be known asSpringfield-Ritchot.

East St. Paul and St. Clementsmunicipalities will become the Red River North riding, and the La Verendryeelectoral divisionwill absorb the RM of De Salaberry.

The fourridings in northern Manitoba will bemore equitable in size, but two of the ridings willstretch farther south to encompass more historically Tory territory. The move will include all lands not surveyed into townships.

Keewatinook, the province's largest riding, will shrink, and theThompson electoral division will consist ofNelson House, Gillam, Churchill and other communities along the railroad line.