NDP, Tory leaders hit Manitoba byelection campaign trail

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This article was published 02/06/2023 (869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of federal party leaders were in Manitoba on Friday, campaigning with local candidates ahead of upcoming June 19 byelections.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh both stopped in the capital city and were headed to the Winkler area to back their parties’ candidates in the Winnipeg South Centre and Portage—Lisgar ridings.

Both described the Liberal minority government as “out of touch” and made their pitches for how they’d each lead the country, if elected to do so.

In Winnipeg South Centre, a seat the Liberals have held for the better part of three decades, Poilievre was showing support for Conservative candidate Damir Stipanovic.

Julia Riddell is running for the NDP, and Singh described the psychologist as “an amazing candidate.”

The byelection is to fill the seat formerly held by Liberal MP Jim Carr, who died last year at age 71. His son, Ben Carr, is running under the Liberal banner.

Deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland had been scheduled for a short visit to the city to support Carr’s campaign earlier this week.

Tylor Baer is running for the People’s Party of Canada and Douglas Hemmerling is the Green candidate.

There are 43 other independent candidates running in Winnipeg South Centre, the vast majority as part of an election reform protest.

“We want to win everywhere,” said Singh, who made no apologies for wanting to be the next prime minister.

“We want to make the case to Winnipeggers and to the people of Manitoba that if you want someone that’s going to fight for you, that’s on your side, that’s going to deliver real supports for you and your family, give your family a break, help you save money, that’s New Democrats. Conservatives want to cut services.”

Meantime, Poilievre suggested he believes there’s frustration among voters, even those who’ve traditionally voted Liberal.

“Even in Liberal strongholds like this one, people are frustrated with and disappointed with (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau. Life costs more, work doesn’t pay, housing costs have doubled. Crime, chaos, drugs and disorder are common in our streets. We need to reverse the hurt that Trudeau’s caused,” Poilievre said.

“So my message to voters in this Liberal stronghold is this: let’s get back to common sense. Let’s bring home lower prices by getting rid of the inflationary carbon tax and balancing the budget to bring down inflation.”

The Portage—Lisgar seat (open due to the retirement of longtime Conservative MP Candice Bergen) is being contested by PPC leader Maxime Bernier; Nicolas Geddert for the Greens; Branden Leslie for the Conservatives; Kerry Smith for the Liberals; and Lisa Tessier-Burch for the NDP.

Asked whether the far right Bernier poses any threat, amid concerns of conservative vote-splitting, Poilievre said the PPC leader is “just like Justin Trudeau,” and accused both of supporting “woke policies” in the House of Commons.

“Both of them have expressed support for Quebec separatism. Both of them would have a hard time, would need a map to find Portage or Winkler.”

Meanwhile, Bernier held a Friday afternoon news conference in Winkler, some 110 kilometres southwest of the capital.

Although meeting with Manitoba NDP officials wasn’t on Singh’s schedule for the day, the federal party leader said he does support them in the upcoming provincial election (Oct. 3).

In the byelections, the NDP is focused on health care. Singh said the federal government needs to transfer more health-care funding to the provinces.

Ottawa “hasn’t been doing its fair share for a long time, and there’s got to be strings attached, so that our public money actually goes to health care,” he said.

Advance polls will be open June 9-12 for both byelections. Election day is June 19.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com