Manitoba Election 2016: Gimli riding

Summary: Gimli does not have an incumbent as longtime NDP MLA Peter Bjornson is not seeking re-election.

Boundaries: Gimli is located in the Interlake region, north of Winnipeg. It is bordered to the north by the Interlake riding and Lake Winnipeg, to the west by Lakeside, to the south by St. Paul, and to the east by Lake Winnipeg and the Selkirk riding. Communities in the riding include Gimli, Winnipeg Beach, Sandy Hook, Petersfield, Clandeboye and St. Andrews.

Last Election: NDP MLA Peter Bjornson defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Jeff Wharton by 802 votes, 51 to 43 per cent.

History: Gimli is home to the largest Icelandic community in the world outside of Iceland, and many of its MLAs have been from this background. It was created by redistribution in 1899. The town has elected a candidate from a governing party in all but five elections since its establishment (the exceptions were 1907, 1920, 1922, 1936 and 1999), and is considered a swing riding.

Candidates

NDP: Armand Bélanger, manager for the East Interlake Conservation District

Progressive Conservative: Jeff Wharton, business owner

Green: Dwight Harfield,president of Listening Solutions

Manitoba Party: Ed Paquette, engineer