Dogfight in Winnipeg North byelection
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This article was published 03/11/2010 (5540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After months of anxiously waiting near the starting line, candidates seeking to replace Judy Wasylycia-Leis as the MP for Winnipeg North were quick out of the blocks last week.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Oct. 24 a federal byelection in Winnipeg North will take place Wed., Nov. 29. The seat has been vacant since Wasylycia-Leis announced earlier this year her intention to run for mayor in last month’s Winnipeg civic election.
NDP candidate Kevin Chief and Liberal Kevin Lamoureux are considered to be the early frontrunners in the riding. Joining them are Conservative candidate Julie Javier, John Harvie of the Green Party and Jeff Coleman of the Pirate Party of Canada.
Chief said crime and safety will be two of the main planks of his platform.
“Long before this most recent round of shootings crime was an issue in Winnipeg North,” he said.
“Events like the Run for the Chiefs held in Point Douglas are an excellent example of how we can increase police presence in the riding and get communities working together.”
Lamoureux, MLA for Inkster first elected in 1988 and re-elected provincially four times since, recently resigned his seat at the Manitoba legislature to run federally.
Lamoureux said voters should remember that it was the provincial NDP who allowed the situation in north Winnipeg to deteriorate.
“Voters have to remember the NDP didn’t oppose at all the removal of community policing offices along Dufferin Avenue as well as another location along McPhillips,” he said.
“People are scared to go out after 4 p.m.”
The Green party’s Harvie said voters in the riding are tired of the status quo and are looking for a change.
“There has been NDP support in this riding for so long. Why isn’t it thriving more? It’s in decline everywhere,” he said.
Chief said one of his strengths as a candidate is the fact that he has lived in the area all his life and knows firsthand what the concerns of people in the riding are.
Lamoureux said his political experience would be an asset in Ottawa.
“The real way to solve issues is to get all three levels of government around a table,” he said. “I’ve already been a part of these types of discussions.”
Harvie questioned some of the NDP’s strategies, including the decision to feature Chief’s likeness on the side of a campaign van.
“Perhaps Winnipeg North voters want a candidate spending money on a van with his face on it. I don’t know if that is important to them,” he said.
Javier and Paulson did not respond to requests for interviews.
Winnipeg North is one of three federal byelections that will take place later this month. Byelections are also slated for Manitoba’s Dauphin-Swan River-Marquett and Ontario’s Vaughn ridings.
rob.brown@canstarnews.com