Laying siege to the stronghold

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This article was published 15/09/2021 (1453 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg South Centre may be considered a Liberal stronghold, but a Tory who once held the seat has invested months of work to win it back.

The riding has been represented by Liberal cabinet minister Jim Carr, one of Manitoba’s most prominent federal politicians.

Conservative Joyce Bateman said many voters are now “looking for change,” but declined to speculate upon her chances of defeating the incumbent.

“We’ll hear from voters on Sept. 20 (election day)… I’m anxiously awaiting that but we’re working every minute until (then),” she said.

“There’s two things that I continually hear at the door. No. 1, why are we having this election at all? And the second one is the cost of living. People are incredulous, people are really worried about how much their groceries are costing them now.”
– Winnipeg South Centre Conservative candidate Joyce Bateman

Bateman was nominated by her party in January and says she began reaching out to voters right after that. She previously held the seat from 2011 to 2015.

During this election campaign, the Tory candidate said she’s heard repeated complaints from voters about the Liberal government decision to call an early pandemic election, as well as the rising cost of living.

“There’s two things that I continually hear at the door. No. 1, why are we having this election at all? And the second one is the cost of living. People are incredulous, people are really worried about how much their groceries are costing them now,” said Bateman.

The candidate said many seniors also fear their grown children will never be able to afford a home, due to skyrocketing prices. She said Tory platform proposals would help address the issue, including efforts to increase the supply of new housing units.

“It’s report card time and the power is with the people.”
– Liberal cabinet minister Jim Carr

Carr agreed the pandemic has been top of mind for voters as he seeks re-election in the riding. But he said people in Winnipeg South Centre appear generally satisfied that his Liberal government has done a good job handling COVID-19 so far.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape with the number of vaccines that has been rolled out… but we’re not out of it yet,” he said.

Carr said he’s found plenty of support for the Liberal push for mandatory vaccination against COVID-19, as well as the party’s plans to combat climate change and pursue $10-per-day daycare agreements with provinces.

He stressed he won’t take any election outcome for granted but is proud to be judged on his track record.

“It’s report card time and the power is with the people,” said Carr.

Psychologist Dr. Julia Riddell would also like to claim the seat. The NDP candidate said she was inspired to run for office partly due to gaps in the mental health-care system.

“We had really long wait times and really not enough services… The pandemic (just) really worsened the need,” said Riddell.

She believes an NDP call to expand mental health care would help address that issue, while the party’s climate change and reconciliation proposals also appear to resonate with voters.

“I think the NDP platform is really the strongest in those areas. And people really love Jagmeet Singh,” said Riddell. “I’ve talked to quite a few people who said, ‘I’ve never voted NDP in my life and I voted for you’ (in the advance polls).”

While recent national polls have found the Liberals and Conservatives are tied with the most support among voters, Winnipeg South Centre tends not to be swayed by how the rest of the country votes.

A Manitoba political expert deemed the riding a Liberal stronghold.

“It’s a riding which doesn’t really follow the pattern of Western Canada,” said Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

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Adams noted Carr was a “very high-profile candidate” when he was first elected to the seat in 2015 and re-elected in 2019.

“I don’t think the drop in Liberal support will affect Jim Carr’s circumstances but my prediction is that the margin (of victory) will be less than it was in the last two elections,” said Adams. “(Bateman) held that riding in the Harper era and is a well-known person… so there is a little bit of a battle of the incumbents going on here.”

Adams noted the area contains River Heights, which has a long-standing tradition of supporting Liberal candidates at the provincial government level.

It would be a huge upset if Bateman managed to steal the seat for the Conservatives, he said.

Prior to Bateman’s win in 2011, the Liberals held the riding for more than two decades.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga

Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.