Advance voter turnout looks strong

The number of voters who cast a ballot in advance indicates there’s more than the usual amount of interest in Tuesday’s provincial byelection in The Pas-Kameesak, political watchers say.

Elections Manitoba on Monday afternoon reported 1,772 votes cast in advance, with advance voting continuing until 8 p.m. at the local election office in The Pas. The final number of advance votes will be tallied and released Tuesday morning. By comparison, there were 1,826 advance votes cast in The Pas-Kameesak in the 2023 general election.

“Generally, the turnout in byelections is far less than in a general election,” said University of Winnipeg political science Prof. Malcolm Bird. “Usually it’s between 30 to 50 per cent of what would turn out in a general election.”

He said it’s interesting that a byelection that won’t change who’s in government has attracted so many people to vote in advance in the middle of summer.

“It’s not totally clear why or what’s the significance of that. All the political parties push people to vote at advanced polls,” Bird said.

Four candidates are vying for the seat held by the late Amanda Lathlin, the NDP incumbent who died of an illness March 21.

Churchill tourism operator Wally Daudrich (Keystone Party), Jennifer Flett (NDP), Edna Nabess (Progressive Conservative Party) and bank branch manager Dan Quesnel (Manitoba Liberal Party) are running in the constituency that the NDP won by more than 2,000 votes in the 2023 general election. Voter turnout was 53 per cent.

PC Leader Obby Khan has campaigned in the constituency for Nabess, a Mathias Colomb Cree Nation elder, entrepreneur and a founding board member of Indigenous Tourism Manitoba. NDP leader Wab Kinew has shown up for Flett, a former vice-chief and councillor for Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN).

Bird said he thinks the NDP has the advantage with its deep roots and incumbency in the region, but Daudrich, a socially conservative populist, is the candidate to watch.

“How many votes is he going to get and take from the Conservatives, which I think is kind of the natural assumption, but who knows?”

Daudrich, a longtime PC supporter, quit the party after being disqualified to run in the general election and joined the Keystone party.

“He’s someone who’s got some name recognition, he’s a very motivated person, he’s very dedicated,” Bird said.

“The Daudrich dynamic is, I think, a real problem for the Conservatives and Obby Khan, and illustrates the limited capacity of Mr. Khan to tolerate different perspectives and a person like Daudrich.”

The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy, who’s spoken to all of the candidates and voted in advance, said voters want a strong advocate for the area.

“Community safety remains a high priority for many of our community members,” Murphy said Monday, adding that there’s a “huge gap” in access to mental health and addictions support and supportive housing and employment.

“All of those sort of key pillars of trying to get somebody through that addictions journey are really missing.”

He said The Pas is “very grateful” that the NDP government promised to build a new health clinic, but it needs to happen sooner than five years from now.

“The timeline on it of being 2030 is way too long.”

Economic development is another priority for The Pas-Kameesak, where people are looking forward to playing a role in the development of the Port of Churchill, said the mayor.

“The Pas, OCN and the RM of Kelsey are actually the gateway to the north,” Murphy said.

“We want to be ready for that economic development within Manitoba to support the Port of Churchill.”

The problem is, the cost of building in northern Manitoba can be 40 to 60 per cent higher than in southern Manitoba, the mayor said.

“There needs to be some sort of northern escalator on grants or programs that help keep us in tune with the rest of the province, because it’s almost impossible to without strong partnerships to move that forward.”

Murphy said he hopes there’s a high voter turnout.

“I hope people are interested and aren’t just fed up or giving up and saying, ‘It’s not worth it.’ A vote’s always worth it. Vote who you think is going to put in the work for you and is aligned with your values.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca