Manitoba Tories say former leadership candidate can’t run under party banner in Turtle Mountain

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives won’t allow the man who nearly won the party leadership in 2025 to seek the nomination in Turtle Mountain.

“The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba has advised Wally Daudrich that he will not be permitted to seek the party’s nomination in Turtle Mountain,” the party said in a brief statement issued Wednesday night.

Daudrich, who owns a home near Morden, Lazy Bear Lodge in Churchill and the former PC headquarters on Kennedy Street next door to the Legislative building was seeking the PC nod in the western Manitoba constituency.

The next provincial election must be held by Oct. 5, 2027.

Daudrich could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The party, led by Obby Khan, said it would not be commenting further, but offered a vague explanation for the decision.

“Candidate nominations are conducted in accordance with the party’s constitution, rules and candidate review processes,” it said.

Turtle Mountain is held by PC incumbent Doyle Piwniuk, who is not seeking re-election. It has been considered a “safe” Tory seat, but that may no longer be the case after the party’s rejection of Daudrich, University of Manitoba political studies Prof. Christopher Adams said Wednesday.

“I think there’ll be repercussions within the party on this,” Adams said. “I guess they see him as a possible loose cannon and he’s a man who speaks his mind.”

During last year’s leadership race, Daudrich infamously quipped that he’d solve Winnipeg’s homelessness crisis by letting polar bears loose in the city.

“We have a homeless crisis here in Winnipeg,” Daudrich told supporters in a video posted on social media. “I always say where I come from in Churchill, we don’t have any homeless people. Anybody take a guess why? When there are serious repercussions for a bad lifestyle, people smarten up very quickly. So my plan is to import 10 polar bears and let them go in front of the (Manitoba legislature).”

Daudrich then received more ballots than Khan in the election, but came up short in his bid for the top job because of a point system the party used to weigh support in different constituencies.

The relationship between Khan and Daudrich may be strained as a result of the leadership contest, Adams said. There’s also rural-urban divide to consider, he said.

Khan, who represents Fort Whyte in Winnipeg, is vying for vote-rich urban and suburban seats, while the right-of-centre conservative populist Daudrich is appealing to rural Manitobans, he said.

“Is the option to keep him inside, within the caucus, and have to deal with that for the coming years, or is it more risky to have him outside the party and deal with the repercussions from that?” Adams said.

“Obviously they’ve done some sort of calculation and thought it’s better to keep him out, rather than in.”

PC party stalwart Dorothy Dobbie was taken aback by the announcement.

“This is the first I have heard about this, and I truly do not believe it,” she said in an email.

“As I understand it, Wally has doubled the number of P.C. members in the riding through his hard work and commitment – he was poised to win. I think there must be some mistake.”

As of Wednesday, Mark Custance, a rural councillor in the Municipality of Two Borders, was the only candidate seeking the PC nomination in Turtle Mountain.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca