Tories beat other parties in nominating Manitoba candidates

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This article was published 26/03/2025 (195 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Conservatives are the first party to field a full slate of candidates in Manitoba’s 14 ridings – with the Liberals close on their heels.

Four days into the election, the last two Tory candidates to officially be chosen — Thomas Bambrick in Winnipeg Centre and Lachlan De Nardi in Churchill-Keewatinook-Aski — began campaigning.

Bambrick is the party’s electoral district association president in Winnipeg Centre, while De Nardi is a member of the family that owns specialty grocery centre Piazza De Nardi on Taylor Avenue in Winnipeg.

Liberal candidate Rebecca Chartrand in Churchill-Keewatinook-Aski – officially became the party’s final candidate on Wednesday at 1:53 a.m. – while this week Ghazanfar Ali Tarar in Brandon-Souris, Terry Hayward in Riding Mountain, Rhonda Nichol in Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman, and Robert Kreis in Portage-Lisgar have also been nominated.

Manitoba Tories cheered the milestone and jeered at the other major parties for not having a full slate of candidates with just 30 days before voters go to the polls on April 28.

Winnipeg West Tory candidate Marty Morantz, the incumbent, said Wednesday, “it shows how organized our central campaign is and how motivated our candidates are to get out to the doors and start talking to Canadians about our main message, which is that we want to make life affordable again for Canadians.”

James Bezan, who has been elected seven times as the Conservative MP for Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman, said, “we are proud and excited to be the first party to have a full slate of Manitoba candidates who are ready to put Canada First.

“We are hearing at the doors that Manitobans are tired of this Liberal government and ready to head to the polls to bring home a new Conservative government.”

University of Manitoba political studies professor Christopher Adams said it doesn’t surprise him the Tories crossed the finish line first.

“We know country-wide, the Conservatives were ahead of the Liberals months ago and even a month ago,” Adams said. “So Manitoba being ahead is continuing the pattern for the Conservatives.”

Adams said the problem for the Liberals is, that until Justin Trudeau resigned as prime minister and Mark Carney was chosen leader March 9, the party was polling way behind the Conservatives, who appeared to be on he way to forming the next federal government under Pierre Poilievre.

Ever since United States President Donald Trump began implementing tariffs against Canadian exporters, the polls have shown a dramatic change. Currently, they show the possibility of either a minority — or even majority — Liberal government.

“A couple of months ago, people were walking away from the party instead of running to it,” Adams said.

“People were looking at (the Liberals) to be on the wrong side. But since Mark Carney became leader, some do want to run – even (MPs) Anita Anand and Sean Fraser have reversed their decisions and have come back to run.”

A spokesperson for the Liberal party could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the other parties still have gaps to fill.

“We absolutely will have a full slate of candidates in Manitoba by April 7,” NDP spokesperson Anne McGrath said in a statement.

“We have some amazing candidates, such as Leah Gazan, Leila Dance, Niki Ashton, Joanne Bjornson, who have fought tirelessly for their community. This election, Manitoban families have a choice: do they want Conservative cuts to their health care, pension, and (employment insurance) or New Democrats who will protect what’s most important to people?”

Currently, there is no NDP candidate in Winnipeg South-Centre, where the incumbent MP is Liberal Ben Carr, or Winnipeg West, where Morantz is battling Liberal candidate and past MP Doug Eyolfson, an emergency room physician.

Outside Winnipeg, there are no NDP candidates, at this point, facing off against Bezan, Tory Grant Jackson in Brandon-Souris, or Conservative Dan Mazier in Riding Mountain.

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The Brandon-Souris riding suddenly had no incumbent, after longtime Tory MP Larry Maguire stepped down on the day the election was called due to health concerns. He was quickly replaced by Jackson, who was Tory MLA for Spruce Woods.

The Liberals announced on Wednesday Chartrand is running against Niki Ashton in Churchill-Keewatinook-Aski.

Earlier this week, Adebayo Akinrogunde was put forward to run in Winnipeg North for the NDP against longtime Liberal Kevin Lamoureux, while People’s Party of Canada candidate Robert Thomas replaced Filippo Palmisani in Winnipeg South. No one from the PPC could be reached for comment to explain the switch.

The Green party has nominated only two candidates in Manitoba: Blair Mahaffy in Provencher and Gary Gervais in Winnipeg Centre.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

Every piece of reporting Kevin 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.