Ontario riding profile: Kiiwetinoong

Kiiwetinoong, one of the two new ridings created for the 2018 Ontario provincial election, is the province's largest geographically but has among the fewest constituents.

The riding, which was severed from the Kenora-Rainy River riding, is 294,083 square kilometres and has a population of 32,987.

• Far northern Ontario provincial ridings to be doubled

Neighbouring Mushkegowuk-James Bay, the other newly created riding, is smaller, stretching over 254,894 square kilometres. It has 30,037 inhabitants.

Kiiwetinoong means "north" in Ojibway. The riding's population is 68 percent Indigenous.

The size of the riding is daunting, with the majority of the communities in the electoral district accessible year-round only by plane. The largest communities in Kiiwetinoonginclude Sioux Lookout, Red Lake, Ear Falls, Pikangikum and Sandy Lake.

Candidates in the inaugural election in Kiiwetinoong include:

• Clifford Bull, PC Party, chief of Lac Seul First Nation;
• Doug Lawrance, Liberal Party, mayor of Sioux Lookout;
• Sol Mamakwa, NDP, health advisor withNishnawbe Aski Nation;
• Christine PennerPolle, Green Party, educator and author.

PennerPolle is the only candidate who is from Red Lake, with the other three candidates from Sioux Lookout.

Bull and Mamakwaare Indigenous. Bull, Mamakwa and Lawrancehave all worked together on a variety of projects in Sioux Lookout related to health.

The area covered by the new Kiiwetinoong riding has been held by the NDP under Sarah Campbell and Howard Hampton since the Kenora-Rainy River riding was created in 1999.

At that time, Kenora-Rainy River was created by amalgamating the former ridings of Kenora, Rainy River and Lake Nipigon.