Rossmere

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Rossmere is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1968, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1969. The riding is located in the northeastern section of the City of Winnipeg.

Rossmere is bordered on the east by Radisson, to the south by Elmwood and Concordia, to the north by River East, and to the west by Kildonan. The Red River forms its western boundary.

Rossmere's population in 1996 was 19,959. As of 1999, the average family income was $50087, and the unemployment rate was 6.40%. According to a 1996 census report, 20% of the riding's residents are immigrants; 14% listed German as their ethnic origin, and a further 6% are Ukrainian. The aboriginal population is 4.5%.

Rossmere is relatively affluent, and most of its residents are in the middle-income range. There is still a significant working-class presence in the riding, however: 16% of the riding's industry is in manufacturing, with a further 13% work in the retail trade.

Although Rossmere's first MLA was New Democratic Party premier Edward Schreyer, it was historically a swing seat between the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives. After Schreyer's resignation in 1979, he was succeeded by the NDP's Vic Schroeder, who was re-elected in the elections of 1981 and 1986 over his Conservative opposition. Schroeder was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley, but was defeated in the 1988 election that swept the NDP from office. Progressive Conservative Harold Neufeld held the seat from 1988 to 1993, while future MP and federal cabinet minister Vic Toews was the MLA from 1995 to 1999. Both served in the cabinets of Gary Filmon.

Since 1999, however, the Conservatives have been increasingly less competitive in the seat. New Democrat Harry Schellenberg, who first won the seat in a 1993 by-election before narrowly losing to Toews in the 1995 provincial election, regained the seat in the 1999 election by narrowly defeating Toews in a rematch. Schellenberg went on to win re-election in the 2003 provincial election with nearly two-thirds of the vote. Schellenberg was succeeded by current NDP MLA Erna Braun, who won the seat in 2007 provincial election with 60% of the vote. Notably, the Conservatives did not nominate a candidate until after the election was called.

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