Diversity among candidates as provincial nominations close

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This article was published 29/03/2016 (3485 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This coming provincial election is going to be more diverse than the last one in 2011.

At 1 p.m. Tuesday, nominations officially closed, setting the ballot and giving Manitobans an official look at the faces of the 2016 election.

Thirty five per cent of the Progressive Conservate slate is female, a historic high for the party. The NDP is touting a diverse slate in which seven per cent of candidates identify as LGBTQ.

The Manitoba Liberals are running the first openly transgender candidate in the province’s history — Shandi Strong in Wolseley. All three of the major parties are running more indigenous and female candidates than in 2011.

Political analyst and author Chris Adams said it will take a few elections before the changes can be seen as a blip or a pattern, but he senses it’s a sign of a greater diversity of people in their 20s, 30s and 40s becoming interested in politics and having the opportunity to run.

“The indigenous population (for example), many have university degrees, cut their teeth in a job and have made themselves professionals,” Adams said.

Jeannette Montufar, the PC candidate for Fort Garry-Riverview, ticks off a number of boxes in the diversity column. She’s a woman and a newcomer to Canada, moving with her family from Guatemala about 30 years ago. She’s a civil engineer with a PhD in transportation.

“People want to relate to candidates, so having diversity is important, because the more you have, the more segments of the population you can speak to,” Montufar said. “Being a woman, I think I bring a uniqueness of the female perspective. I am also a working mother and I bring the understanding that comes with having to balance family and work life.”

The parties didn’t see much of a bump from 2011 in terms of candidates of colour. The NDP and PCs are both running about the same percentage and Liberals are actually running a slightly lower percentage.

Jamie Moses, the NDP candidate for St. Vital, is a second-generation Canadian whose parents were born in Trinidad and Tobago. He said it’s important that political parties represent all of Manitoba.

He said he has experienced racism while growing up in North Kildonan, but it taught him to be stronger and to persevere.

“One of the roles in government is that we want to have representation of all walks of life and all community group and I know as a black person and as for myself, I want be able to represent not just the community of my ethnic background, but my neighbourhood,” Moses said.

The PCs didn’t give numbers for LGBTQ candidates they are running this election, but the Liberals are running two who identify as LGBTQ and the NDP is running four.

Strong, a retail manager who has been a strong advocate in the trans-community, made the decision to come out as transgender at age 49. Strong said it was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s, “Because it’s 2015” remark as he announced gender parity in cabinet that sealed her decision to seek office.

“It was the final little bit of inspiration that I needed to throw my hat in the ring,” Strong said. “There are lots of young people, coming out into the world today as trans or gender-queer or somewhere along the gender spectrum and it is just as important as an indigenous person to see indigenous people in politics or teaching, so this setting that bar — she can do it I can do it, too.”

The Manitoba Liberals came close, but were unable to secure a full slate of 57 candidates after the signatures submitted for Agassiz candidate Jessica Karlsen were rejected by Elections Manitoba because they only contained post office boxes, explained party spokesman Mike Brown. Two other candidates for the Manitoba Liberals were still being reviewed by Elections Manitoba hours after the 1 p.m. deadline passed. It’s the first time since 1999 that the Liberals will not run a full slate.

The Green party will run 32 candidates this election.

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The PCs were first out of the gate, announcing a full slate of candidates on Feb. 20, an easy move for a party that is running first in the polls, explained Adams.

“If a party looks like it going to take power, you might be more willing to run in a unwinnable riding because you get your name better known within the party and there might be some interesting jobs on other side,” Adams explained.

The NDP and Liberals weren’t so quick, with the Liberals still confirming nominations until the last minute Tuesday. The NDP announced its full slate 10 days ago after bringing in NDP loyalists like cabinet communications staffer Zach Fleisher to run against Heather Stefanson in Tuxedo, a Tory strong riding. Winnipeg resident and NDP staff member Matt Austman was nominated to run in another Tory stronghold, the rural constituency of Lakeside, taking on incumbent PC MLA Ralph Eichler

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca

— with files from The Canadian Press