# Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River

Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River (French: Desnethé—Missinippi—Rivière Churchill; formerly known as Churchill River) is a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.

## Geography

This is a rural riding located in northern Saskatchewan. The riding encompasses the northern half of the province and is the third largest federal riding, that is located in a province, in Canada, trumped only by Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba and Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou in Quebec. The territorial ridings of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut are also larger.
The 2023 redistribution order removed most of the territory outside of the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District from the riding, reducing its population considerably. That will have the effect of creating an overwhelmingly Indigenous riding more similar to the territorial ridings.

## Demographics

Panethnic groups in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River (2011−2021) :
| Panethnic group | 2021 | 2021 | 2016 | 2016 | 2011 | 2011 |
| Panethnic group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| Indigenous | 49,660 | 70.18% | 49,840 | 70.91% | 48,395 | 70.58% |
| European | 19,605 | 27.71% | 19,650 | 27.96% | 19,655 | 28.67% |
| Southeast Asian | 690 | 0.98% | 320 | 0.46% | 250 | 0.36% |
| South Asian | 320 | 0.45% | 165 | 0.23% | 40 | 0.06% |
| African | 205 | 0.29% | 160 | 0.23% | 35 | 0.05% |
| East Asian | 170 | 0.24% | 130 | 0.18% | 110 | 0.16% |
| Middle Eastern | 25 | 0.04% | 10 | 0.01% | 0 | 0% |
| Latin American | 20 | 0.03% | 30 | 0.04% | 0 | 0% |
| Other/multiracial | 60 | 0.08% | 10 | 0.01% | 0 | 0% |
| Total responses | 70,760 | 98.98% | 70,290 | 99.15% | 68,565 | 98.7% |
| Total population | 71,488 | 100% | 70,891 | 100% | 69,471 | 100% |
| Notes: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses. Demographics based on 2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution riding boundaries. |||||||
    According to the 2011 Canadian census; 2013 representation
Languages: 64.6% English, 21.3% Cree, 10.8% Dene, 1.3% French
Religions: 76.8% Christian (41.5% Catholic, 18.5% Anglican, 4.1% United Church, 2.5% Lutheran, 1.6% Pentecostal, 8.5% Other), 2.7% Traditional Aboriginal Spirituality, 20.4% No religion
Median income (2010): $18,910
Average income (2010): $28,554
Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River boasts the following demographic records:
* Highest % of people of the Métis aboriginal group (16.4%)
* Highest % of people of Métis ethnic origin (12.0%)
* Highest % of people with Dene as their mother tongue (10.5%)

## History

The electoral district was created as "Churchill River" in 1996 from Prince Albert—Churchill River, Mackenzie and The Battlefords—Meadow Lake ridings.
In 2004, it was renamed "Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River".
This riding lost territory to Prince Albert and a fraction to Yorkton—Melville, and gained a fraction of territory from Prince Albert during the 2012 electoral redistribution.

### 2006 election controversy

In the 2006 federal election, Liberal candidate Gary Merasty defeated incumbent Conservative MP Jeremy Harrison by a slim margin of 68 votes after trailing much of the election night, despite Harrison's vote increasing several points. Merasty's win raised issues of questionable tactics to increase voter turnout. However, an investigation conducted by Elections Canada determined that no wrongdoing had taken place.

### 2015 election recount

In the 2015 federal election, New Democrat candidate Georgina Jolibois defeated the Liberal candidate, Lawrence Joseph, by a narrow margin of 71 votes. Joseph requested a judicial recount of the votes.

## Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:
| Parliament | Years | Member | Party |
| Churchill River Riding created from Prince Albert—Churchill River, Mackenzie and The Battlefords—Meadow Lake |||||
| 36th | 1997–2000 | Rick Laliberte | New Democratic |
| 36th | 2000–2000 | Rick Laliberte | Liberal |
| 37th | 2000–2004 | Rick Laliberte | Liberal |
| Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River |||||
| 38th | 2004–2006 | Jeremy Harrison | Conservative |
| 39th | 2006–2007 | Gary Merasty | Liberal |
| 39th | 2008–2008 | Rob Clarke | Conservative |
| 40th | 2008–2011 | Rob Clarke | Conservative |
| 41st | 2011–2015 | Rob Clarke | Conservative |
| 42nd | 2015–2019 | Georgina Jolibois | New Democratic |
| 43rd | 2019–2021 | Gary Vidal | Conservative |
| 44th | 2021–present | Gary Vidal | Conservative |

## Election results
### Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, 2004–present

2021 federal election redistributed results :
| Party | Vote | % |
| Liberal | 3,811 | 46.35 |
| New Democratic | 1,975 | 24.02 |
| Conservative | 1,938 | 23.57 |
| People's | 257 | 3.13 |
| Independent | 146 | 1.78 |
| Green | 96 | 1.17 |
2021 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Gary Vidal | 10,036 | 48.8 | +6.5 | $83,338.84 |
| | Liberal | Buckley Belanger | 5,533 | 26.8 | +0.3 | $98,928.73 |
| | New Democratic | Harmonie King | 3,548 | 17.2 | -11.4 | $35,359.65 |
| | People's | Dezirae Reddekopp | 1,002 | 4.9 | +4.1 | $1,007.06 |
| | Independent | Stephen King | 240 | 1.2 | – | $0.00 |
| | Green | Nasser Dean Chalifoux | 215 | 1.0 | -1.0 | $1,294.43 |
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 20,574 | – | – | $121,058.43 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 127 | 0.6 | -0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,701 | 44.8 | -12.5 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 46,257 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | +4.0 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
vte2019 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Gary Vidal | 11,531 | 42.30 | +12.17 | $64,212.77 |
| | New Democratic | Georgina Jolibois | 7,741 | 28.40 | -5.75 | $89,787.05 |
| | Liberal | Tammy Cook-Searson | 7,225 | 26.51 | -7.38 | $63,291.05 |
| | Green | Sarah Kraynick | 543 | 1.99 | +0.17 | $1,816.39 |
| | People's | Jerome Perrault | 217 | 0.80 | – | $2,050.00 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 27,257 | 99.21 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 216 | 0.79 | +0.49 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,473 | 57.25 | -7.47 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 47,985 |
| | Conservative gain from New Democratic | Conservative gain from New Democratic | Swing | Swing | +8.96 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
vte2015 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Georgina Jolibois | 10,319 | 34.15 | -11.23 | $26,597.41 |
| | Liberal | Lawrence Joseph | 10,237 | 33.88 | +28.62 | $50,341.46 |
| | Conservative | Rob Clarke | 9,105 | 30.14 | -16.75 | $83,236.17 |
| | Green | Warren Koch | 552 | 1.83 | -0.64 | $1,984.03 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 30,213 | 99.70 | | $228,699.20 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 91 | 0.30 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,304 | 64.72 | – |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 46,824 |
| | New Democratic gain from Conservative | New Democratic gain from Conservative | Swing | Swing | +2.76 |
| These results were subject to a judicial recount and modified from the validated results in accordance with the Judge's rulings. The margin of Georgina Jolibois over Lawrence Joseph increased from 71 votes to 82 votes as a result of the recount. |||||||
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
2011 federal election redistributed results :
| Party | Vote | % |
| Conservative | 9,767 | 46.88 |
| New Democratic | 9,454 | 45.38 |
| Liberal | 1,097 | 5.27 |
| Green | 514 | 2.47 |
vte2011 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Rob Clarke | 10,509 | 47.93 | +1.26 | $74,871 |
| | New Democratic | Lawrence Joseph | 9,715 | 44.30 | +26.53 | $74,655 |
| | Liberal | Gabe Lafond | 1,144 | 5.22 | -25.06 | $57,456 |
| | Green | George Morin | 560 | 2.55 | -1.26 | $4 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 21,928 | 99.57 | | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 95 | 0.43 | -0.11 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,023 | 50.35 | +5.60 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 43,739 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -12.64 |
vte2008 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Rob Clarke | 8,964 | 46.67 | -1.16 | $81,066 |
| | Liberal | David Orchard | 5,816 | 30.28 | -1.30 | $88,314 |
| | New Democratic | Brian Morin | 3,414 | 17.77 | +0.24 | $1,459 |
| | Green | George Morin | 733 | 3.82 | +0.75 | $1,387 |
| | First Peoples National | Rob Ballantyne | 282 | 1.47 | – | – |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 19,209 | 100.00 | | $90,390 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 105 | 0.54 | +0.19 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,314 | 44.75 | +20.03 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | -1.1 |
By-election on March 17, 2008 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Rob Clarke | 4,992 | 47.83 | +6.74 |
| | Liberal | Joan Beatty | 3,296 | 31.58 | -9.79 |
| | New Democratic | Brian Morin | 1,830 | 17.53 | +2.16 |
| | Green | Robin Orr | 320 | 3.07 | +0.90 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 10,438 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 37 | 0.35 | -0.01 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,475 | 24.72 | -33.71 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | -8.3 |
vte2006 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Gary Merasty | 10,191 | 41.37 | +11.50 | $69,229 |
| | Conservative | (x)Jeremy Harrison | 10,124 | 41.09 | +3.70 | $78,578 |
| | New Democratic | Anita Jackson | 3,787 | 15.37 | -4.72 | $43,976 |
| | Green | John McDonald | 534 | 2.17 | -0.60 | $128 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 24,636 | 100.00 | | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 88 | 0.36 | -0.03 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,724 | 58.43 | +11.02 |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | -3.9 | |
vte2004 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Jeremy Harrison | 7,279 | 37.39 | +1.62 | $27,194 |
| | Liberal | Al Ducharme | 5,815 | 29.87 | -11.94 | $52,686 |
| | New Democratic | Earl Cook | 3,910 | 20.09 | -1.72 | $9,005 |
| | Independent | (x)Rick Laliberte | 1,923 | 9.88 | -31.93 | – |
| | Green | Marcella Gall | 539 | 2.77 | – | – |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 19,466 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 76 | 0.39 | -0.01 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,542 | 47.41 | -12.1 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | -6.8 |
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in the 2000 election.

### Churchill River, 1997–2004

vte2000 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | (x)Rick Laliberte | 9,856 | 41.81 | +13.41 | $39,223 |
| | Alliance | Kerry Peterson | 7,679 | 32.57 | +0.59 | $62,019 |
| | New Democratic | Ray Funk | 5,141 | 21.81 | -12.72 | $48,853 |
| | Progressive Conservative | David J. Rogers | 755 | 3.20 | -1.90 | – |
| | Canadian Action | Brendan Cross | 143 | 0.61 | – | $1,398 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 23,574 | 100.00 | | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 95 | 0.40 | -0.09 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,669 | 59.5 | +2.3 |
| | Liberal gain from New Democrat | Liberal gain from New Democrat | Swing | -13.1 | |
Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in the 1997 election.
vte1997 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Rick Laliberte | 7,288 | 34.53 | – | $41,198 |
| | Reform | Daryl Wiberg | 6,750 | 31.98 | – | $25,132 |
| | Liberal | Roy Bird | 5,994 | 28.40 | – | $40,104 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Bert Provost | 1,077 | 5.10 | – | $79 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 21,109 | 100.00 | | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 105 | 0.49 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,214 | 57.2 |