Thunder Bay

Kenora riding results defy Liberals' claim on First Nations voters

The Liberals have claimed the increased voter turn-out fuelled their win. But the poll-by-poll results in the Kenora riding reveal a different story.
Liberal MP Bob Nault won five of 40 polls on First Nations in the riding of Kenora. (Jody Porter/CBC)

The poll-by-poll results are out from last fall's federal election, and they show a significant increase in First Nations voter turnout in the Kenora riding.

The turnout was up by more than 200 per cent but most of those votes went to the NDP. 

Howard Hampton won 35 of the 40 polls on First Nations in the riding, while the Liberal's Bob Nault won the other five.

The majority of Nault's 500-vote victory over Hampton came in advance polls in Dryden, Kenora, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake.

The Liberals have claimed the increased voter turn-out in the last election fuelled their win, but Thunder Bay-Superior North was the only riding in the northwest where the Liberals won the First Nations polls.

The handful of First Nations in the Thunder Bay Rainy-River riding also mainly voted NDP.