Three candidates to seek nomination for NDP in St. Johns

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This article was published 03/02/2016 (3533 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The race to replace Gord Mackintosh as the provincial NDP candidate in St. Johns is heating up.

Three candidates have told the Free Press they will seek the nomination, left open after Mackintosh announced last week that after 23 years as MLA, he wasn’t running for re-election. A third person is seriously considering seeking the nomination.

Nurse and former school board trustee Suzanne Hrynyk, after much speculation, confirmed Wednesday she will seek the nomination in the North End constituency.

Hrynyk ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in last fall’s federal election in Kildonan-St. Paul and in the civic election in Old Kildonan.

“I imagine it will be a contested seat and I guess from my perspective, I have run as a candidate for the party when it hasn’t always been popular or a seat you don’t perceive is an easier seat to win in — and I think that shows my dedication to the party,” she said.

The constituency has been an NDP stronghold since the 1960s, with Mackintosh at the helm since 1993 after he replaced New Democrat MLA Judy Wasylycia-Leis when she resigned to run for the federal NDP.

Also vying for a spot on the ballot on April 19 is Aaron McDowell, the executive assistant to Coun. Ross Eadie in Mynarski, a North End ward that is part of the St. Johns provincial constituency.

McDowell said he is confident he can win the nomination, noting his connections to the constituency and people in his ward.

By early Thursday, a third potential nominee made her intentions official to the Free Press. Tyler Pearce, the director of communications for the Winnipeg branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, said she had filed her papers and will be running for the nomination.

McDowell and Hrynyk have also filed their nomination papers.

Meanwhile, Nahanni Fontaine, the province’s special adviser on aboriginal women’s issues, says she is seriously considering running and is on the cusp of filing her nomination papers. Fontaine comes from Sagkeeng First Nation and has been a strong advocate for action on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

“I have been reaching out to constituents and members of the executive,” she said. “I am trying to be thoughtful and respectful in the process.”

The nomination date for the constituency has not been set.

Former Osborne House CEO Barbara Judt is running for the Progressive Conservatives and restaurateur Noel Bernier is representing the Liberals.

Meantime, the Progressive Conservatives have found a new candidate to run in Selkirk after David Horbas was dumped by the provincial party under mysterious circumstances.

Alan Lagimodiere, a local veterinarian and business owner, was nominated as the candidate in Selkirk Tuesday. He will run against Finance Minister Greg Dewar, who has been the NDP MLA for the constituency since 1990. The Liberals have nominated retired steel mill worker Stefan Jones to run for the seat.

A copy of the decision obtained by the Free Press said the party dropped Horbas based on a review of “demonstrated and ongoing shortcomings with regards to Mr. Horbas’s participation in the party’s election preparedness program and campaign planning efforts.”