Brandon Realtor to run for NDP in Spruce Woods byelection

Premier Wab Kinew, who has been handing out a lot of green in hopes of turning a “yellow dog” Westman seat from Tory-blue to NDP-orange, will be in Brandon Thursday to help Ray Berthelette kick off his candidacy in the long-awaited Spruce Woods byelection campaign.

“Yes, it’s me,” Berthelette told the Brandon Sun ahead of Thursday’s planned announcement.

Berthelette, a Brandon Realtor, is a former executive assistant to Brandon East MLA Glen Simard.

Under Manitoba law, a byelection must held no later than 180 days after an MLA vacates a seat. Tory Grant Jackson resigned March 24 to run successfully for the federal Conservatives in April’s election, which means voters in Spruce Woods must head to the polls by mid-September.

Spruce Woods is located in what Progressive Conservative supporters have long considered an area — most western and southern Manitoba rural ridings are included — where the party could run “a yellow dog” and win.

PC party volunteer Colleen Robbins of Souris is running under that banner, along with Liberal candidate Stephen Reid, a Brandon teacher.

While the NDP waited to announce its candidate, Kinew has made multiple public appearances to make — and repeat — funding announcements in the rural Manitoba constituency.

He visited Green Acres, a Hutterite colony near Wawanesa, Saturday and could travel to others in the area during the summer, a spokesperson said.

“The first time a premier has visited,” Kinew posted on social media. “From fire trucks built with precision tech (some used in Flin Flon fires) to food, conversation, and community rooted in care — I was moved by their innovation, hospitality, and heart. One Manitoba.”

Green Acres Colony manager Gilbert Hofer confirmed Wednesday that it was the first time a premier had been there, but stressed that it was not a political visit and there was no campaigning.

“There was no politics,” Hofer said.

“Somebody had mentioned to (Kinew) that we built fire trucks. He wanted to see where they were made, and he’d never been to a colony…. We just toured him around.”

The colony, with roots in defending the Christian faith and traditional values, owns and operates Acres Emergency Vehicles. Hofer declined to talk about his political views or the coming byelection.

The colony visit could be unsettling for the PCs, says a former party operative who lives beside the constituency that’s been Tory blue for as long as anyone can remember.

“Those are votes that would normally be safe Tory votes, and (Kinew) believes he has a legitimate chance of carrying his party to victory,” said Deveryn Ross, former premier Brian Pallister’s deputy chief of staff, who lives in Brandon.

“He’s not playing just to finish well, he’s playing to win.”

The NDP managed to win a byelection last year in Tuxedo, once a Tory stronghold represented by former premiers Gary Filmon and Heather Stefanson. Now the party is targeting Spruce Woods.

“This is a riding that was ignored by the NDP because they thought there was no hope of winning for years and years and years, and this is a riding that was ignored by Tory governments because they felt it was so safe they didn’t have to spend money there,” Ross said.

“Suddenly Spruce Woods is getting the attention it always deserved,” he said. “I think we’re going to see more spending announcements and people are paying attention.”

Jackson won Spruce Woods for the PCs in 2023 with 61 per cent of the vote after reporting $13,312 in election expenses. NDP candidate Melissa Ghidoni — who was parachuted in and reported spending $168 — managed to get 24 per cent of the vote.

In the April 26 PC leadership race, Spruce Woods voters sided with populist candidate Wally Daudrich who wanted to remove “Progressive” from the party’s name, over winner Obby Khan, a Winnipeg MLA with a more centrist approach.

Khan and the Opposition PCs have accused Kinew and the NDP government of “buying votes” ahead of the Spruce Woods byelection. Once the writ of election is dropped, a communications blackout prohibits the government from announcing new funding or programs during the election period.

Robbins said many of Kinew’s funding announcements were made by the previous Tory government.

“People aren’t fooled by it,” she said, adding most are aware of the NDP government’s delay in calling the byelection.

Robbins said she’s been campaigning and visiting summer events in Spruce Woods, sometimes alongside Khan.

“People love him once they meet him. He’s so friendly and so nice… and he’s really good at visiting with people, meeting people and he brings the excitement. Do I think that it’s an easy win? Absolutely not. I believe that you have to work hard.”

An NDP byelection win would have a “devastating impact on morale within the (PC) party, on their ability to sell memberships and raise funds because it would look like no riding is safe and that there’s no hope for the next general election two years from now,” Ross said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca