Tories keep Spruce Woods in a squeaker

The Progressive Conservatives narrowly held onto the southwestern Manitoba Spruce Woods seat in a nail-biter of a byelection Tuesday, fending off a strong push by Premier Wab Kinew and the NDP.

Tory candidate Colleen Robbins edged New Democrat challenger Ray Berthelette by 70 votes — as per Elections Manitoba’s unofficial results — in the PCs’ first test since Obby Khan became party leader in April. She garnered 2,805 votes versus the NDP’s 2,735 votes.

“I’m feeling really good right now. A win is a win, so I’m going to take it,” Robbins told the Free Press after declaring victory. “I’m going to show Spruce Woods they chose the right person to represent them.”

Berthelette told reporters he was pleased with the close result, which he did not expect. The NDP conceded and will not seek a recount, he added.

“Nobody in their mind would have ever thought we were going to come within 70 votes,” Berthelette said.

Robbins is a longtime Tory volunteer and former nurse. Berthelette is a former real estate agent and recent executive assistant to NDP cabinet minister Glen Simard.

Liberal candidate Stephen Reid, a teacher, finished third with 444 votes.

Tuesday’s result is the slimmest margin of victory in the riding’s 14-year history. PC candidates won by more than 2,500 votes in past general elections in Spruce Woods.

Robbins said “you never know how close it will be” on election day, while attributing the NDP’s strong showing to a raft of pre-election promises in Spruce Woods.

She accused the Kinew government of trying to “buy votes,” and of “manipulating” the timing of the byelection so it would be held when farmers are harvesting their crops and some people are on summer holidays.

Kinew took away positives from the NDP’s best-ever showing in Spruce Woods. “This is just a really strong signal from rural Manitoba that they’re sick of being ignored by the PCs,” he said.

Spruce Woods, a Tory stronghold, is a mostly rural constituency that includes part of Brandon and the communities of Glenboro, Rivers and Souris. The PCs handily won the seat in four consecutive general elections between 2011, when it was created, and 2023.

The seat became vacant in March, when former PC MLA Grant Jackson resigned to successfully run for the federal riding of Brandon-Souris.

Robbins’ victory gives the Opposition Tories 21 seats in the 57-seat legislature. The governing New Democrats have 34 seats, while the Liberals have one seat. Former NDP member Mark Wasyliw is the lone independent MLA.

The unofficial voter turnout in Tuesday’s byelection was 41 per cent. Elections Manitoba said 14,757 voters were registered at the end of the advance voting period.

Elections Manitoba said 2,275 voters cast ballots during advance voting.

In the 2023 general election, 57 per cent of 14,379 eligible voters in Spruce Woods cast a ballot.

Robbins issued two apologies prior to the byelection – one for past comments on X, formerly Twitter, about residential schools and unions, and one after telling a debate audience she was concerned that gender-affirming surgery is being performed on minors in Manitoba, which is not the case.

After her victory, Robbins said “not one person” brought up the apologies while she canvassed for votes, and she felt they were not a factor in the byelection’s outcome.

At the same debate, Berthelette struggled to defend the NDP’s progress on health care in the area, and faced questions about who would represent the riding if he won the byelection – himself or Kinew, whose face appeared on campaign signs.

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The NDP hoped the party’s popularity in public opinion polls would lead to another upset and inroads among rural southern voters.

The NDP stole the Tory stronghold of Tuxedo in a June 2024 byelection, eight months after winning a majority government in the last general election.

Kinew visited Spruce Woods several times to campaign alongside Berthelette. The NDP government announced $300 million in funding for projects in the riding before the byelection was called.

Robbins said she plans to hold Kinew to account for all $300 million that was promised.

One of Kinew’s visits prompted the PCs to file a complaint with Manitoba’s elections commissioner, accusing the premier of breaking a law that bans government advertising during election campaigns.

The NDP said election rules were followed in a social media video in which Kinew pledged to fix a section of Highway 2 that runs through the riding.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris 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.