Liberal Chartrand claims victory in longtime NDP-held Churchill-Keewatinook Aski; other rural districts stay blue

A progressive stronghold in northern Manitoba is under threat of turning red, with the Liberal party challenger poised to topple the longtime NDP incumbent.

Churchill-Keewatinook Aski is the only federal riding in rural Manitoba with the chance to change hands, as the other five electoral districts decisively voted Tory blue.

Rebecca Chartrand had collected 45 per cent of votes by midnight and was set to remove Niki Ashton from the seat she has held since 2008.

Ashton’s fate seemed destined to mirror those of most of her NDP colleagues across the nation, with polls returning similar losses after the party limped into the election with dwindling support.

“It just seems so surreal right now,” Chartrand said, speaking by phone from the South Beach Casino northeast of Winnipeg moments after claiming victory to a crowd of party faithful.

“This was really about shining a light on all of the people in this riding and illuminating their voice.”

Chartrand, who was defeated by Ashton in the 2015 federal election, said it felt “fantastic” to unseat her rival in a rematch nearly a decade in the making. She lost the previous election by 912 votes.

The first-time Member of Parliament will now be tapped to lead the largest riding in Manitoba, which spans more than 433,000 square kilometres and covers the entirety of the province’s central and northern regions. It includes many isolated communities accessible only by plane or rail, and is home to primarily Indigenous voters.

The district has voted mostly in favour of NDP candidates since the 1980s, although the Liberals won the seat during an election in the mid-’90s and again between 2006 and 2008, before Ashton’s first win.

Chartrand — who is Anishinaabe, Métis, Dakota and Inninew — said she would fight to bolster economic prosperity and infrastructure in northern Manitoba.

The incoming MP said she is eyeing opportunities within the Port of Churchill, critical mineral mining and rail-line development.

“This riding wants to be a centrepiece of the Canadian economy, as we continue to re-envision what that looks like. There’s so much opportunity here,” Chartrand said. “Our people really want to see economic development and growth throughout this riding and feel that the time is right.”

She agreed that she benefited from the Liberal party’s surging momentum throughout the campaign.

“Absolutely. This election was too important, especially for this riding,” she said. “We needed to make sure we won this seat because of all the challenges that are happening across this country with Donald Trump and his tariff wars.”

Chartrand said she believed people wanted new leadership in the northern district and voted for change.

Ashton was not available for comment.

Elsewhere in rural Manitoba there was little federal turnover, with the Conservatives easily winning each electoral district. Incumbents were re-elected in all but the Brandon—Souris riding.

New to federal politics is Grant Jackson, a former Progressive Conservative MLA who left his provincial seat in Spruce Woods to claim the seat for the Tories.

He won the riding with with more than 62 per cent of votes, well ahead of the second-place Liberal Ghazanfar Ali Tarar.

The seat had been held since 2013 by Conservative Larry Maguire, who announced in March he would not seek re-election due to health concerns. The riding has belonged to the Tories since it was formed in 1953, with the exception of one Liberal mandate in the mid-’90s.

Jackson served as deputy house leader for the Manitoba Tories as well as education critic. He was partway through his first term in office after being elected in 2023.

Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman incumbent James Bezan retained the seat he has held since 2004. The region was considered a safe seat for the Conservatives, having not elected a progressive candidate since the 1980s.

Bezan led with more than 61 per cent of votes by press time, far ahead of Liberal Rhonda Nichol, who hovered below 30 per cent.

Farmer Dan Mazier ploughed his way into a third term in Ottawa, winning Riding Mountain with 67 per cent of votes. Liberal Terry Hayward was a distant second with 24 per cent.

The riding has voted only Conservative since being created in 2015.

Ted Falk easily held the Provencher riding, capturing 67 per cent of votes and securing himself a fifth federal mandate since first winning office in 2013. Liberal Trevor Kirczenow trailed at 25 per cent.

Conservative in party and in social views, Falk has opposed abortion, is critical of gender-diverse views and told local media while campaigning that a Liberal win would lead to a “weak, woke government.”

Provencher is among the oldest ridings in Manitoba. It encompasses Steinbach, and has been a Conservative stronghold since the early 2000s.

Conservative MP Branden Leslie easily secured a second term as the MP for the Tory stronghold of Portage-Lisgar.

Leslie, a former Conservative political staffer and MP Candice Bergen’s campaign manager, won the seat in a byelection after she resigned in 2023.

He maintained the seat with more than 70 per cent of the vote, well ahead of Liberal candidate Robert Kreis at about 22 per cent.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

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Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler 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.