What to know about the Borderland riding for Manitoba's 2023 election

• About the riding
• Voting history
• News stories from Borderland
• Meet the candidates
• More CBC Manitoba ridingprofiles

Borderland is one of Manitoba's oldest ridings and has been on the books since the province's fourth general election in 1879, under the name Emerson. It got a new name and additional territory in 2018 in an effort to accommodate growth in the area of Morden and Winkler, as part of a provincewide riding redistribution.

The southern Manitoba riding runs in a strip along the U.S. border from just east of Highway 209 to just west of Thornhill, not including the communities of Morden and Winkler.

It includes the communities of Emerson, Altona, Dominion City, Gretna, Plum Coulee, St. Jean Baptiste and Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation.

Borderland's population is 22,780, says the province's riding profile (compiled from the 2021 census).

• Full coverage of the 2023Manitoba election

The median age of the riding is younger than the overall provincial median 30.6 in Borderland compared to 38.4 provincewide, theriding profile and the 2021 census say. The median household income in the area is $78,500, census data says.

More facts about Borderland

• Less than 10 per cent of people in Borderland are Indigenous, the profile says.
• Roughly 96 per cent of the population identified as not a visible minority in the 2021 census, according to the profile.
• The largest employment groups are in manufacturing (17.1 per cent), and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (13.4 per cent), the profile says. Those are followed by construction (11.5 per cent) and health care and social assistance (10 per cent).

Voting history

The area's recent voting history is solidly Progressive Conservative. Electors haven't voted in any other party since 1977. The riding was called Emerson (and covered a smaller area) until the 2019 election.

• 1958, 1959, 1962 and 1966 elections: Liberal.
• 1969: Progressive Conservative.
• 1973: NDP.
• 1977 onward (11 general elections): Progressive Conservative.
• 2011, 2016: Cliff Graydon (Progressive Conservative).
• 2019: JoshuaGuenter (PC).

Borderland in the news

• Tenants given 1 week to find new homes due to deficiencies in southern Manitoba building
• Diversity, inclusivity celebrated at Altona's inaugural Pride parade
• 'A perfect solution': Manitoba border blockade ends as RCMP escort protesters away
• Highways in Parkland region reopen as flooding recedes
• 'It got pretty hostile': Manitoba Housing tells Gretna it will host reception

Meet the candidates

As of Sept. 11, the nominated candidates for the 2023 election are:

• Joshua Guenter (Progressive Conservative incumbent).
• Rick Derksen (NDP).
• Loren Braul(Liberal).

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 Borderland, the three nominated candidates are official.

Find more CBC Manitoba riding profiles here.