Liberals plan for Manitoba’s next ‘game-changer’ election during AGM

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This article was published 15/05/2022 (1261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With some wind still in their sails following the recent Fort Whyte byelection, Manitoba Liberals met this weekend to consider how they can parlay near-victory into future success.

The party hosted its first in-person annual general meeting since the beginning of the pandemic on Friday and Saturday.

“You actually get to feel the energy in the room and it was very positive,” Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont told the Free Press in a telephone interview on Sunday afternoon.

The party staged a near upset in the Fort Whyte byelection held in March. Willard Reaves came within 200 votes of claiming the constituency for the Liberals, who currently have three seats in the Manitoba legislature. Obby Khan, the Progressive Conservative candidate, won the seat with 3,050 votes to Reaves’s 2,853.

“We showed that we were not just competitive, but that we almost won in a seat that was considered one of the strongest PC constituencies in the province,” Lamont said.

Reaves has already been nominated to contest the Fort Whyte seat again in the next provincial election, scheduled to occur on or before Oct. 3, 2023. Lamont said the party has nominated seven candidates thus far. Those early nominations, along with the party’s strong financial and organizational standing, are indicators to Lamont that the Liberals are on their best political footing in decades.

“It’s not just we can come in third or we can be official Opposition. This election has the potential to be a game-changer,” he said.

Policy was part of the discussion at the weekend gathering and Lamont said health care was clearly the No. 1 priority.

Lamont said nurses are his party’s focus as it considers health-care solutions. He argued that providing credential recognition for internationally trained nurses is one way to alleviate vacancies and aid overburdened staff. Tackling surgical backlogs and considering prevention measures to address health issues are also necessary, he added.

The party’s recent efforts at non-disclosure agreement reform, home renovation support for seniors and environmental action related to the party’s green plan were also discussed.

Lamont pointed to recent flood management efforts as another failed effort by the PCs. In particular, he chided the province’s response to flooding affecting Peguis First Nation, where jurisdictional issues seemed to obscure his party’s calls for action.

Given the regularity of flooding in the province, better plans should be in place, he suggested.

“It shouldn’t be an emergency. It should be something that we’re managing.”

grant.burr@freepress.mb.ca