Winnipeg throughout the city. In provincial politics, Winnipeg is represented by 31 of the 57 provincial Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). As of 2016, Winnipeg districts are represented by 17 members of the Progressive Conservative Party, 10 by the New Democratic Party (NDP), and 2 by the Liberal Party. In federal politics, as of 2015 Winnipeg is represented by eight Members of Parliament: seven Liberals and one New Democrat. There are six Senators representing Manitoba in Ottawa: three Liberals, two Conservatives, and one Independent. From 2007 to 2011, Winnipeg was the "murder capital" of Canada, with the highest per-capita rate
Winnipeg of the Red River Valley, a flood plain with an extremely flat topography. It is on the eastern edge of the Canadian Prairies in Western Canada and is known as the "Gateway to the West". Winnipeg is bordered by tallgrass prairie to the west and south and the aspen parkland to the northeast, although most of the native prairie grasses have been removed for agriculture and urbanization. It is relatively close to many large Canadian Shield lakes and parks, as well as Lake Winnipeg (the Earth's 11th largest freshwater lake). Winnipeg has North America's largest extant mature urban elm forest.