Manitoba parties hit final campaign stretch

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This article was published 01/10/2023 (740 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba NDP and Liberal parties rallied supporters Sunday as candidates rounded the final corner of the campaign trail, but Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson continued to shun the spotlight.

Stefanson did not hold any media events on the weekend, and has not held a news conference in Winnipeg for more than a week. But the Tory leader is expected to appear before reporters on Monday, when she will release her party’s fully costed platform at the PC’s campaign headquarters on the eve of election day.

So far, 200,790 voters — a new record in advanced polling in the province — have cast ballots for the 43rd Manitoba legislature.

“We’re pleased with how many Manitobans have voted in advance. It’s great to see people coming out,” said Mike Ambrose, communications director for Elections Manitoba.

Ambrose noted advanced voting has been trending upwards across the country. Early polls, some of the busiest of which were in Winnipeg malls, closed over the weekend.

A total of 110,253 people voted early in 2016, while 112,814 did so in 2019.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew appealed to roughly 300 attendees at a Sunday rally to vote for his party on Tuesday, if they have not already, and make time to volunteer at their local NDP candidate’s office “to help bring this election home.”

“A Manitoba NDP government will search the landfill — for the same reason that we will bring a meal program into schools, for the same reason that we will fix home care, for the same reason that we will cut the gas tax, for the same reason that we will fight climate change,” said Kinew, surrounded by NDP candidates in crowded stands inside Maples Collegiate.

“Because this is a team that will not leave anyone behind.”

Searching the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran — believed to have been killed and taken there last year — has become a hot button election issue after the PCs launched ads emphasizing their decision not to conduct a search.

As he renewed calls to reverse Tory cuts to health care, Kinew told rally attendees he was proud of his party’s campaign and its focus on bringing people together in contrast to his Tory opponents’ “despicable” advertisements.

“No matter how many seats the PCs win on Tuesday night, they will have lost the moral authority to govern,” he said, adding he remains shocked his opponents have made homicide victims “political props.”

In a statement Sunday, PC spokesman Shannon Martin, who is not seeking re-election, said voters continue to express excitement about his party’s “vision for a stronger Manitoba with a growing economy and bigger pay cheques” at doorsteps across the province.

“Our party and leader continued to speak directly with voters at the doors and in communities today,” Martin added.

On Friday, PC candidate Kelvin Goertzen, who is seeking a sixth term representing Steinbach, defended Stefanson’s decision to focus on “direct voter engagement.”

“Leaders have to find different ways to connect with people,” whether it’s social media or talking directly to voters, and they can’t focus exclusively on traditional news media, Goertzen said, pushing back on a suggestion Stefanson may not want to answer tough questions.

Also Sunday, the Manitoba Liberal Party promised to improve provincial settlement services and reduce financial barriers for newcomers who want to put down roots in Manitoba.

“The beautiful thing about Manitoba is that anybody can be a Manitoban, but under the PCs and NDP alike, we haven’t done enough to make sure we’re providing a proper welcome,” Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said in a news release. “(We) are offering a plan to improve immigration, and make sure that when you get here, you can get to work with the skills and training you have — whether you’re a doctor, a nurse, or any other line of work.”

The commitment includes negotiating with the federal government to increase the percentage of immigrants arriving in Manitoba through the provincial nominee program, increasing francophone immigration targets, and expanding financial support for internationally-educated Canadians.

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A Liberal government would set up an enhanced family-reunification stream for the provincial nominee program and reduce the application fee to $50 from $500, Lamont said.

The party also pledged to ensure international students are once again covered by Manitoba Health.

Lamont made the latest announcement during an event at Boyd Park in Burrows, where the party is competing against PC candidate Nav Brar to unseat NDP incumbent Diljeet Brar.

He was flanked by local nominee Garry Alejo, an accounting professional who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 2014. Alejo touted the importance of bolstering family reunification as a way to grow the province’s population and economy.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie 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.