Hoping for nice Green shade in Wolseley

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This article was published 13/04/2016 (3484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Silver medals may be all shiny and nice, but the Manitoba Green party is strictly going for gold this time.

Nowhere else in Manitoba have the Greens finished second three elections in a row — but they’ve done it the last three elections in Wolseley.

First place this time, said candidate Dave Nickarz, who’s been working the riding since last summer and pointed out without being asked he’s the only candidate who lives in the riding.

Of course, those second-place Greens didn’t come remotely close to unseating New Democrat Rob Altemeyer in the NDP stronghold, which stretches well beyond Wolseley neighbourhood into one of the lowest-income areas in Manitoba.

Altemeyer is running again — the Selinger loyalist has won three huge majorities, though he has never made it into cabinet. “We’re the strongest Green riding historically, and this time we have a good chance to win,” said Nickarz, who’s a home renovator. “This is the seat that’s going to be the first Green seat.”

Could it be a clue national Green Leader Elizabeth May — the first national leader to campaign in Manitoba’s provincial election — will spend Friday with Nickarz and provincial leader James Beddome in Wolseley riding?

Nickarz said he expects the NDP’s provincial woes will negatively affect Altemeyer.

Altemeyer countered the Greens are “tepid” on social issues: “They do have quite a few right-wing elements,” he said. “People in Wolseley want government to do more, not less. Wolseley constituency is really diverse — that’s something not everyone appreciates. I’m concerned about the social-safety net. (Other parties) seem to ignore most of the neighbourhood outside Wolseley,” he said. “There’s more Conservative signs than we’ve ever seen before — that’s worrying.”

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Nickarz acknowledges he ran provincially once and federally twice in the past 15 years just to get a Green on the ballot. Beddome ran in Wolseley in 2011, Nickarz said: “People said, ‘Oh, I’d vote for you if I thought you could win.’ I’ve had no one say that to me.”

The Liberals have nominated Shandi Strong and the Conservatives have nominated Raquel Dancho. Wayne Sturby is running for the Manitoba Party.

St. Paul’s College political scientist Chris Adams said the Greens will have a decent share of the popular vote on election day, but that support will be thinly spread across Manitoba and not concentrated anywhere sufficiently to win a seat.

“The problem is, they aren’t really focused on any one part of the province,” said Adams.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Nick Martin

Former Free Press reporter Nick Martin, who wrote the monthly suspense column in the books section and was prolific in his standalone reviews of mystery/thriller novels, died Oct. 15 at age 77 while on holiday in Edinburgh, Scotland.