NDP picks nurse to run in Tuxedo byelection

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This article was published 20/05/2024 (502 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba New Democrats have nominated a nurse to try to fill a seat left vacant by former premier Heather Stefanson in a byelection that comes just eight months after the NDP’s electoral win.

Carla Compton will run in the Tuxedo riding in the June 18 byelection.

“It’s an opportunity for me to evolve in my practice and how I can really help more people,” Compton said at a news conference announcing her candidacy Monday afternoon.

Compton ran in the Tuxedo riding in the 2019 provincial election and came in distant third place.

The candidate said the decision to switch from the hospital bedside to politics came due to timing.

“I feel I have the time, I have the energy and I have the commitment and the desire to show up for the constituents of Tuxedo and to show up at the government’s table on their behalf,” Compton said.

“Being of service for others, that’s a main motivator for me.”

The party held a nomination meeting earlier this week and chose Compton to put up in Tuxedo, Premier Wab Kinew said.

Stefanson officially resigned her seat in the Manitoba legislature on May 6.

“I watched the last government’s cuts to health care hurt my patients and drive my colleagues out of the system. I watched Heather Stefanson run a campaign right here in this community that had people shaking their heads. That kind of division and anger — that’s not who we are,” Compton said.

The Tuxedo seat has historically been a Tory stronghold since the riding’s inception in 1981. In last year’s provincial election NDP candidate Larissa Ashdown came within 300 votes of unseating Stefanson.

There are currently 34 New Democrats, 21 Progressive Conservatives, one independent Liberal and one vacant seat in the Manitoba legislature.

PC party president Brent Pooles said the party is due to have its nomination meeting in the coming days and will announce their candidate shortly thereafter.

Pooles said despite Tuxedo historically voting blue, the byelection isn’t guaranteed and the narrow vote in the 2023 race was humbling for the party.

“We take nothing for granted. You have to earn people’s support, you can’t expect people just to vote for you,” he said by phone Monday.

Former McPhillips MLA Shannon Martin, who served as a provincial legislator from 2014 to 2023, is seeking the PC nomination in Tuxedo, while lawyer Lawrence Pinsky and real estate agent Lori Shenkarow have also put their names forward for the vote.

The NDP’s announced the byelection before any other political party announced their candidate for the byelection, to which Kinew accused former MLA Stefanson of “mailing it in” since election night and there was no time to waste.

“If other parties are not able to nominate candidates by the time the writ dropped, even though they had inside knowledge of when the byelection would be coming … I think you have to question the organizational ability,” he said.

Under provincial law, a byelection must be held within six months of the seat becoming vacant.

Political commentator Deveryn Ross said the candidates running don’t necessarily matter, because voters are essentially casting a ballot either in favour or against Wab Kinew.

“It’s a referendum: do you want to be part of the government or not?” he said. “They could have probably found a higher profile candidate … when you’ve got a leader who’s this popular in some ways all you need to do is just stand back and let Wab do his job.”

Kinew said Compton is the most suitable candidate to turn Tuxedo orange.

“She’s a registered nurse, she’s somebody with ties to the Tuxedo area, and most importantly, she’s a progressive person who has what it takes to bring a refreshing voice to the Manitoba legislature,” Kinew said.

The Manitoba Liberals have yet to nominate a candidate, but it is believed former Blue Bomber Willard Reeves will seek the title, Ross said.

Reaves came within 200 votes of winning the Fort Whyte seat in a 2022 byelection.

The Manitoba Green Party has yet to announce a candidate for the Tuxedo byelection.

The PC party also has yet to choose a leader since Stefanson’s resignation. Corporate and commercial lawyer Brad Zander has been named as the leadership committee chair while Lac du Bonnet MLA Wayne Ewasko continues to serve as the party’s interim leader.

PC party members will select a new leader on April 26, 2025.

— With files from The Canadian Press

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca