Mushkegowuk—James Bay (French: Mushkegowuk—Baie James) is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This riding was created from the northern portion of Timmins—James Bay by the Far North Electoral Boundaries Commission in 2017.[1] The Legislative Assembly of Ontario approved the new riding on October 24, 2017.[2]
 Ontario electoral district | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Provincial electoral district | |||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly of Ontario | ||
| MPP |
New Democratic | ||
| District created | 2017 | ||
| First contested | 2018 | ||
| Last contested | 2025 | ||
| Demographics | |||
| Population (2016) | 30,037 | ||
| Electors (2018) | 17,435 | ||
| Area (km²) | 254,894 | ||
| Pop. density (per km²) | 0.12 | ||
| Census division(s) | Cochrane District, Kenora District | ||
Unlike most Ontario provincial districts, Mushkegowuk—James Bay does not have the same boundaries as a federal district. As well, the riding, with a population of 30,037, is significantly smaller than the average Ontario district (with a population of 110,000) or the average Northern Ontario district (with a population of 76,000).[3] National Post columnist Josh Dehaas criticized of the new ridings of Mushkegowuk—James Bay and Kiiwetinoong as violating the principle of representation by population.[4]
Mushkegowuk—James Bay was originally to be named Mushkegowuk, but the name was changed to Mushkegowuk—James Bay by the legislature, which authorized further consultations over the riding's name by the Attorney General.[5] It is 27 per cent indigenous and 60 per cent francophone.[1] Indigenous leaders have criticized the new riding for not having a high enough percentage of indigenous people.[6]
Members of Provincial Parliament
edit| Mushkegowuk—James Bay | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party | |
| Riding created from Timmins—James Bay | ||||
| 42nd | 2018–2022 | Guy Bourgouin | New Democratic | |
| 43rd | 2022–2025 | |||
| 44th | 2025–present | |||
Election results
edit
| 2025 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Guy Bourgouin | 3,610 | 45.47 | –1.71 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Dave Plourde | 3,602 | 45.37 | +9.62 | ||||
| Liberal | Kyle Allen | 613 | 7.72 | –4.02 | ||||
| Green | Catherine Jones | 114 | 1.44 | –0.50 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 7,939 | 98.50 | –1.12 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 121 | 1.50 | +1.12 | |||||
| Turnout | 8,060 | 42.98 | +3.58 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 18,755 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | –5.67 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[7][8] | ||||||||
| 2022 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Guy Bourgouin | 3,423 | 47.18 | −4.59 | $26,064 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Eric Côté | 2,594 | 35.75 | +5.78 | $26,496 | |||
| Liberal | Matthew Pronovost | 852 | 11.74 | −2.54 | $11,168 | |||
| New Blue | Mike Buckley | 222 | 3.06 | $0 | ||||
| Green | Catherine Jones | 141 | 1.94 | +0.15 | $0 | |||
| Confederation of Regions | Fauzia Sadiq | 23 | 0.32 | +0.18 | $0 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 7,255 | 99.62 | +0.67 | $36,252 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 28 | 0.38 | -0.67 | |||||
| Turnout | 7,283 | 39.40 | -14.65 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 18,639 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | −5.18 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| 2018 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Guy Bourgouin | 4,827 | 51.77 | –8.47 | $27,629 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | André Robichaud | 2,795 | 29.98 | +22.26 | $29,239 | |||
| Liberal | Gaëtan Baillargeon | 1,332 | 14.29 | –16.01 | $10,283 | |||
| Green | Sarah Hutchinson | 164 | 1.79 | +0.39 | none listed | |||
| Northern Ontario | Jacques Joseph Ouellette | 152 | 1.63 | N/A | none listed | |||
| Libertarian | Vanda Marshall | 38 | 0.41 | N/A | none listed | |||
| Confederation of Regions | Fauzia Sadiq | 13 | 0.14 | N/A | $0 | |||
| Total valid votes | 9,324 | 98.95 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 99 | 1.05 | ||||||
| Turnout | 9,423 | 54.05 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 17,435 | |||||||
| New Democratic notional hold | Swing | –15.37 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[9][10][11] | ||||||||
| 2014 general election redistributed results[12] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| New Democratic | 5,038 | 60.26 | |
| Liberal | 2,533 | 30.30 | |
| Progressive Conservative | 647 | 7.73 | |
| Green | 114 | 1.37 | |
| Others | 28 | 0.34 | |
References
edit- ^ a b Benzie, Robert (2017-08-08). "Ontario to get 17 new ridings, including a constituency that is largely Indigenous". Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
- ^ "Ontario Newsroom".
- ^ "NAN Grand Chief wants electoral map changes revisited". TBNewsWatch.com. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
- ^ Dehaas, Josh (2017-08-03). "Josh Dehaas: Ontario Liberals' plan for two new ridings could violate the Charter and cost PCs the election". National Post. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
- ^ "Northern Ontario to have 2 new ridings in next year's election to boost Indigenous representation". The Toronto Star. 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
- ^ Nanji, Sabrina (2017-10-07). "'A missed opportunity for our people': Indigenous leaders urge province to revisit electoral map". Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
- ^ "Mushkegowuk—James Bay Unofficial Election Results". Elections Ontario. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "VOTE TOTALS FROM OFFICIAL TABULATION" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 12. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "Political Financing and Party Information". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
- ^ "Data Explorer". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
- ^ "124 - Mushkegowuk—James Bay".