From the Guinness taps of St. John's to the espresso machines on Vancouver Island, beverage-time talk in Canada is all about the same handful of issues.
Almost all Canadians are fretting over a possible recession, concerned about rising crime and annoyed by crumbling roads and highways.
Resuscitating Lake Winnipeg, which is dying because of nutrient overloading, should be an issue for federal politicans to weigh in on. Waterways across Canada are being damaged by phosphates.
We're divided on the mission in Afghanistan, confused about a carbon tax and -- if recent polls are to be believed -- all but convinced Stephen Harper is a better leader than Stéphane Dion, even if we're not quite ready to party with the former's party.
Every election, pollsters tend to find the same set of issues occupying the crucial top-of-mind slots in the average Canadian headspace, regardless of where in Canada that cerebellum dwells.
However, there are many issues that don't immediately roll right off the tongue when voters find a microphone shoved in their face, or a pollster on the other end of the phone.
And those issues may vary a great deal, depending on where you live.
"It would be interesting to see whether Manitoba in fact has a unique set of (election) issues," says pollster Scott MacKay, president of Probe Research and a guy who frequently makes use of top-of-mind polls even though he isn't convinced of their usefulness.
"There's a debate in our business and among political handlers as to which is a more accurate description of the political landscape -- top-of-mind polls, or presenting voters a list of issues.
"While I understand the utility of top-of-mind and we use it on our surveys, I'm one of these people who understands the use of presenting people with a list of issues.
"In Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg is a good example: It's not top of mind, but when you present it to people as an issue, they say, 'Yeah, of course it's important.'"
According to MacKay, there was a time when Manitoba voters only seemed to care about health care. Then crime became a growing concern, along with infrastructure, which barely represented a blip on election-issue radar as recently as a decade ago.
At the risk of departing the quasi-objective realm of social science for the more questionable world of pure conjecture, here are eight issues that should concern Manitoban voters as the federal election unfolds.
And if they're smart, all of the following issues should also be on the radar of the three major federal parties, or four if the Greens find some credible local candidates:
LAKE WINNIPEG
Never mind the relative absence of blue-green slime on beaches this summer. Lake Winnipeg continues to be threatened by eutrophication, the process by which over-fertilization leads to massive blooms of algae, which in turn die and then deprive the lake of oxygen as they decompose.
Reducing nutrient loading in a watershed that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to northwestern Ontario requires co-ordination from Ottawa, never mind hundreds of millions of dollars to help cities, farms and factories get a handle on phosphorus and nitrogen emissions.
Manitoba can't heal the lake alone, even though this is the only province where people actually care.
FIRST NATIONS HEALTH AND HOUSING
Most of Canada's First Nations have issues when it comes to water treatment, adult-onset diabetes and shortages of good housing. But the preponderance of isolated, fly-in communities means Manitoba First Nations are collectively worse off than their counterparts in places such as B.C. or New Brunswick.
First Nations votes barely add up to a seat in this province, but no government can afford to perpetuate a situation that essentially amounts to substandard living conditions for a single ethnic group.
URBAN ABORIGINAL TRAINING
In a slow-growth city with a shortage of skilled labour, Winnipeg's fast-growing aboriginal community should be viewed as a major asset. Harnessing the growth of the urban aboriginal community is an opportunity for any government capable of creating training programs that actually work.
GRIDIRON GRIDLOCK
Say what you like about bread vs. circuses, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have 20,000 season-ticket holders and at least 30,000 other Manitobans can be considered diehard Canadian football fans. Finding a solution to the stadium conundrum -- and ending the agonizing debate -- could wrap up a seat or two for the Tories in south Winnipeg.
WINNIPEG WASTEWATER
Unlike football, sewage isn't particularly sexy. But Winnipeg is still having trouble paying for a wastewater upgrade that will eventually cost $1.8 billion, a burden that was supposed to be shared by all three levels of government, equally. Civic politicians are desperate to hear about long-term financial help, because all Winnipeggers are beginning to notice the effect of ballooning utility debt on their water-and-sewer bills. The infrastructure deal announced by the Tories on Friday should help settle the issue.
KAPYONG BARRACKS
A 35-hectare chunk of prime real estate in one of the most desirable corners of Winnipeg still awaits redevelopment, thanks to glacial transfer of an empty army barracks from National Defence to Canada Lands. The inter-jurisdictional morass has deprived the city and province of tax dollars and annoyed everyone from profit-hungry developers to housing-deprived First Nations to Tuxedo residents who don't like living next to a ghost town. The barracks have been empty since 2004 -- which will soon be three federal elections ago.
THE CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD
Should the monopoly stay or should the monopoly go? It's a question dear to the hearts of Manitoba's grain farmers, whose small numbers belie the pivotal role they play in the rural economy. The Conservative position is clear, but it remains to be seen whether that could have any effect on the five rural Manitoba ridings held by the Tories.
PUBLIC TRANSIT
Ottawa already gave Manitoba $17.9 million for transit and alternative transportation this year, but the NDP is promising millions more. Surveys suggest Winnipeggers would take transit more often if it were faster and more convenient, but it remains questionable whether this has legs as a federal issue.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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