Young candidate cites age factor in abandoning NDP for Liberals
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/01/2016 (3701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A former New Democrat now running for the Liberals says the Selinger government is “aging out,” and the province is in need of renewal.
Tyler Duncan, who lives in Norway House Cree Nation and has been a youth chief there, switched political teams Tuesday and is running for the Liberals in The Pas in April’s general election. The 19-year-old was, until Tuesday, a member of the NDP’s provincial executive. He ran for party president a year ago shortly after joining the NDP but he lost the post to former national grand chief Ovide Mercredi.
Duncan also ran unsuccessfully in September for grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, or MKO, which represents northern First Nations.
It was that bid he says prompted all three parties to woo him to run provincially.
But he said he chose to leave the NDP and throw his lot in with the Liberals in part because of the “good concrete action” the federal Liberals are taking on indigenous issues.
Asked what indigenous policies the provincial Liberals have proposed, Duncan said the party is still working on those. He said he’s been given the chance to help shape those policies.
Duncan said he’d been a member of the NDP for about a year and didn’t take the decision to defect lightly. Asked why he left the NDP, Duncan said the government is past its prime.
“I think provincially the government is aging out, and we have a big opportunity to do good things,” said Duncan. “Some renewal is good.”
The Liberals have never fared well in The Pas, a riding the NDP has held for nearly 50 years. The Grits won three per cent of the vote there in the last general election.
Duncan said he was unperturbed by the odds, saying the Liberals have never had a candidate who was as entrenched in the riding as he is.
“It’s not about me winning. It’s about what we can do together to make the life of my people better,” he said.
Duncan will face NDP MLA Amanda Lathlin and PC candidate Doug Lauvstad. A call to Lathlin for comment Wednesday was not returned.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
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