Wolseley (Manitoba electoral district)

File:WolseleyED2011.jpg

The 2011+ boundaries for Wolseley highlighted in red.

Wolseley is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1957, and has formally existed since the 1958 provincial election. The riding is located in the centre of the City of Winnipeg. It is named for Col. Garnet Joseph Wolseley, the nineteenth-century army officer who played a significant role in crushing the Red River Rebellion in 1870.

Wolseley is bordered to the east by Fort Rouge, to the south by River Heights, to the north by Minto, and to the west by St. James. The University of Winnipeg is located in the northeast corner of the riding. The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba is located at the meeting point of Wolseley and Fort Rouge.

The riding was predominantly Anglo-Saxon when it was first created; a news report from 1969 indicates that its population had become more diverse by that time.

The riding's population in 1996 was 20,472. In 1999, the average family income was $37,794, and the unemployment rate was 16.30%. Half of the riding's residents are categorized as low-income, the second-highest rate in the province. Thirty per cent of families in the riding are single-parent.

The aboriginal population of Wolseley is 19% of the total. Five per cent of the riding's residents are Filipino.

Health and social services account for 13% of Wolseley's industry, with a further 12% in manufacturing.

Wolseley has undergone a number of dramatic political shifts since its creation. It was initially represented by Dufferin Roblin, a Red Tory who served as Premier of Manitoba from 1958 to 1967. He was succeeded by another Progressive Conservative, but in a 1972 by-election the riding was won by Izzy Asper, leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party and subsequently a prominent media baron in Canada. He retained the riding until his retirement in 1975.

The New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) did not manage to win the seat until 1981. However, the riding has been in NDP hands for all but two years since then, and it is now considered safe for the party. In the provincial election of 2003, Green Party leader Markus Buchart ran in this riding and finished second with almost 20% of the vote.

Wolseley also holds the dubious distinction of having elected one of the few MLAs in Manitoba's history to be expelled from parliament: Robert Wilson, who was stripped of his seat in 1981 after being convicted of marijuana-related charges.

List of provincial representatives

Name	Party	Took Office	Left Office
Dufferin Roblin	PC	1958	1968
Leonard Claydon	PC	1969	1971
Israel Asper	Lib	1972	1975
Robert Wilson	PC	1975	1980
	Independent PC	1980	1980
	Independent	1980	1981
Myrna Phillips	NDP	1981	1988
Harold Taylor	Lib	1988	1990
Jean Friesen	NDP	1990	2003
Rob Altemeyer	NDP	2003	present

Electoral results

Manitoba general election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Rob Altemeyer	4,229	60.72	−3.16
	Green	James Beddome	1,368	19.64	+7.57	$5635.36
	Progressive Conservative	Harpreet Turka	850	12.20	+0.89
	Liberal	Eric Stewart	517	7.42	−4.02
Total valid votes			6,964	99.21
Rejected and declined votes			55	0.78
Turnout			7,019	55.60
Registered voters			12,624
Majority			2,861	25.68	41.08

Manitoba general election, 2007
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Rob Altemeyer	4,038	63.88	$21,917.13
	Green	Ardythe Basham	763	12.07	$1,096.00
	Liberal	Raven Thundersky	723	11.44
	Progressive Conservative	Gustav Nelson	715	11.31	$3,946.16
	Communist	David Tymoshchuk	82	1.30	$373.87
Total valid votes			6,321	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			53
Turnout			6,374	55.28
Registered voters			11,531

Manitoba general election, 2003
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Rob Altemeyer	3,482	56.90	$20,948.83
	Green	Markus Buchart	1,193	19.49	$5,307.87
	Liberal	Val Mollison	766	12.52	$4,591.54
	Progressive Conservative	Ashley Burner	679	11.09	$1,006.54
Total valid votes			6,120	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			77
Turnout			6,197	53.14
Registered voters			11,662

Manitoba general election, 1999
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Jean Friesen	5,282	69.15	$16,153.00
	Progressive Conservative	Carol Roberts	1,685	22.06	$13,845.42
	Green	Phyllis Abbé	356	4.66	$4,591.54
	Communist	David Allison	133	1.74	$0.00
Total valid votes			7,456	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			182
Turnout			7,638	53.14
Registered voters			11,464

Manitoba general election, 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Dufferin Roblin	3,132	48.88
	Liberal	Julius Koteles	1,780	27.78
	New Democratic	Cecil Wood	1,495	23.33
Total valid votes			6,407	100.00
Rejected and discarded votes			45
Turnout			6,452	55.52
Electors on the lists			11,621

Previous boundaries

File:Wolseley98.png

The 1999-2011 boundaries for Wolseley highlighted in red