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Erin Selby, shown campaigning with Premier Greg Selinger, pledged a new QuickCare Clinic, splash pad and playground for her riding if re-elected.

With the re-election of NDP incumbents in southeast Winnipeg on Oct. 4, area residents can look forward to a number of new developments — from spraypads to medical clinics — promised by the party during the provincial election.

Those promises include: two new ACCESS Centres — umbrella facilities that provide a wide range of services from doctors and nurses, to social workers and supports for employment and income assistance — in St. Boniface and southeast Winnipeg; a QuickCare Clinic for after-hours non-emergencies in Southdale; a new elementary school for Sage Creek; a playground for Royalwood; a splash pad for Island Lakes; and a $5 million contribution towards a new fieldhouse for Jonathan Toews Community Centre in St. Vital.

Four of the promises projects — the QuickCare Clinic, the Sage Creek school, the splash pad, and the playground — are in Erin Selby’s Southdale riding.

The day after the election, Selby said she was looking forward to fulfilling those promises.

She said the QuickCare Clinic would be a close-to-home option for routine health issues — such as the flu, or an ear infection — that occur in the evening or on weekends.

"You need to see someone, but you don’t really need to be in an emergency room," Selby said.

While Selby said it is too soon to say when the clinic might open in Southdale, she said it will ensure quicker service for residents while taking pressure off emergency room staff.

The playground in Royalwood, Selby added, will likely be located in the southern part of the neighbourhood, as the northern section already has play structures in place.

"This is going to bring a playground closer to home, but I’m looking forward to hearing from the community their ideas of where they’d like to see it," she said, adding she would also be seeking community input for the location of the splash pad in Island Lakes.

She added planning  for the elementary school in Sage Creek is already underway.

Selby — who won back her seat in the provincial election with more than 700 more votes than PC challenger Judy Eastman — said she felt the campaign pledges did play a role in her re-election.

"I think that the community knows that I’ve kept my promises in the past," she said, referring to pledges she made during her first election campaign in 2007.

"In 2007, I committed to the (Southdale) community centre expansion, which of course is complete. I committed to four new classrooms on Island Lakes Community School, which is complete, and also to bringing more daycare — and I believe we brought just under 360 new daycare spots to the constituency since I was elected."

She added voters may have liked what she offered because the ideas came from the community.

"This is what people have been telling me over the last few months, over the last couple of years, of things that they wanted to see, that they felt that we needed."

According to Chris Adams, a professor of politics at the University of Winnipeg and a pollster with Probe Research, election promises can’t hurt a candidate’s campaign.

"It sounds better than no promises," said Adams, author of Politics in Manitoba.

But in many cases, he said, other factors play a larger role in voter’s minds —the party leader, the party itself and its platform, or the local candidate’s profile.

Adams said he thinks Selby’s successful re-election had more to do with the fact she is representative of the demographics in her riding as a young professional woman, and has a high profile as both a former television personality and a cabinet minister.

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