What to know about the Portage la Prairie riding for Manitoba's 2023 election
CBC News | Posted: September 1, 2023 6:51 PM | Last Updated: September 12, 2023
- About the riding
- Voting history
- News stories from Portage la Prairie
- Meet the candidates
- More riding profiles from CBC Manitoba
The central Manitoba riding of Portage la Prairie is one of the province's oldest, having been on the books since the election of 1870.
The riding is bounded to the north by Lake Manitoba. Its southernmost point is just south of Dakota Plains Wahpeton First Nation, and it runs from just east of Fortier in the east to just past Edwin in the west.
The riding includes its namesake, the city of Portage la Prairie, as well as Oakville, St. Ambroise, Delta Beach, Poplar Point, Dakota Tipi First Nation and Long Plain First Nation.
The riding's population is 21,845, according to Elections Manitoba's riding's profile (which includes information from the 2021 census). As of April 2023, there were 14,279 registered voters in the riding.
The median age of the riding is comparable to the provincial median, at 38.8 in Portage la Prairie compared to 38.4 for Manitoba overall. The median household income in the area is $72,500, according to the 2021 census.
More facts about Portage la Prairie:
- Roughly one-third of residents identified as Indigenous on the 2021 census, according to Elections Manitoba's riding profile.
- Roughly 7.3 per cent of residents identified as visible minorities, the profile says.
- Around 7.3 per cent of residents identified as immigrants.
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Voting history
The riding has been a Progressive Conservative stronghold for more than 40 years.
In the past three elections (2011, 2016 and 2019), it was won by Progressive Conservative Ian Wishart. He is not seeking re-election in 2023.
- 1959 election: Progressive Conservative.
- 1962, 1966, 1969, 1973: Liberal.
- 1977 onwards (12 general elections): Progressive Conservative.
Portage la Prairie in the news
- Manitoba, federal governments pledge nearly $3M for study on sustainable aviation fuel facility
- Maxime Bernier says race for Portage-Lisgar byelection is between him and fake conservative
- Frustration grows as rural Manitoba communities struggle to deal with crime, repeat offenders
- Descendant of residential school principal brings U.S. students to Manitoba on journey of discovery
- Toddler who drowned in Portage la Prairie retention pond was in the care of CFS agency
Meet the candidates
As of Sept. 11, the nominated candidates for the 2023 election are:
- Arishya Aggarwal (Green).
- Jeff Bereza (Progressive Conservative).
- Ralph Dooley (Liberal).
- Acacia Weselake (NDP).
Candidates become official when they meet criteria set out in the province's Elections Act, including providing a statement of disclosure, after the election has been called. In Portage la Prairie, all candidates are official.