NDP far from Manitoba slate as Mulcair comes to town
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/08/2015 (2848 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
On the eve of leader Thomas Mulcair’s first visit to Manitoba in months, the party is still short candidates in some of the most-watched ridings in the province.
The NDP is missing standard-bearers in four constituencies, including three where no names have so far emerged as likely candidates.
“There’s definitely interest,” said Jeff Hook, the party’s new regional organizer. “We have some names, some people we’re talking with.”
The NDP’s vacancies include two ridings where close races are shaping up between the Liberals and Conservatives — Winnipeg South and Saint Boniface-Saint Vital.
Hook said the goal is to have the remaining candidates in place by month’s end.
The NDP tops most national polls, but is faring poorly in Manitoba, where the party is weighed down by the Selinger government’s dismal approval ratings. A recent Probe poll put the federal NDP in third place among Winnipeg voters, whose view of the national party is likely coloured by the provincial party’s long-in-the-tooth status and internal turmoil that prompted a divisive leadership race earlier this year.
Check out: The Free Press Poll Tracker
Mulcair is hosting a rally at the RBC Convention Centre Thursday evening, his first visit to the province since attending a child care conference in the city in November. It’s not clear whether Premier Greg Selinger will attend Thursday’s rally.
The federal party is low on cash and running a decidedly low-key campaign in Manitoba, targeting only one riding, Elmwood-Transcona. There, candidate Daniel Blaikie hopes to topple Conservative MP Lawrence Toet. The party is also running decent campaigns in Kildonan-St. Paul and Winnipeg South Centre, where the odds of success are longer.
The party’s candidate search has been hindered by its lack of a regional organizer in the lead-up to the election. Hook, a provincial staffer, began the job earlier this week.
In recent days, the party has nominated Melissa Wastasecoot in Brandon-Souris. She’s the constituency assistant for Brandon East NDP MLA Drew Caldwell
And, Tuesday, Provencher riding association president Les Lilley agreed to carry his party’s banner in the rural riding represented by Conservative MP Ted Falk.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
2015 Manitoba federal riding map
