Intense political fight in Brandon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/09/2011 (5172 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — There are no sure victories for either of the province’s two main political parties in Manitoba’s second city.

Brandon, the site of this morning’s leaders’ debate, has two seats up for grabs in the Oct. 4 provincial election. The NDP holds Brandon East and the Tories Brandon West.

But there is a host of factors that give both parties hope that they can win this fall.

Former Brandon mayor and member of Parliament Rick Borotsik, having squeaked past NDP cabinet minister Scott Smith by 56 votes in 2007, has retired. That means there is no Tory incumbent in Brandon West.

And the Tories feel that their candidate, Mike Waddell, may have a shot in Brandon East against incumbent Drew Caldwell despite the fact that the New Democrats have held the seat for the last 42 years.

Waddell, who lost to Caldwell by 1,105 votes in 2007, said wasteful provincial government spending and Caldwell’s failure to earn a seat at the cabinet table in recent years may work against the NDP incumbent.

Caldwell, 51, an MLA since 1999, is a former education and family services minister. But he was dropped from cabinet in 2003. When Smith lost to Borotsik in 2007, Brandon — and all of southwestern Manitoba — lost their only voice in the NDP government’s inner circle.

“We’re finding that western Manitoba has suffered without a cabinet voice,” said Waddell, who works as a construction safety officer and also serves as chaplain for the Brandon Police Service and Brandon Wheat Kings hockey club.

Caldwell said he has had no indication that his seat is in danger. “The response at the door has been pretty consistent with past years,” he said Sunday.

Caldwell said the NDP has invested $1 billion in new initiatives in Brandon over the past decade, including the refurbishment of its hockey arena and trade show facility, a “completely transformed” Brandon Regional Health Centre and a new cancer treatment centre.

The Tories counter that while the NDP has been spending lots of money, all the significant initiatives had been in the works since before 2007.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives say voters are grumbling about the fact a major bridge in town was completed a year later than scheduled with cost-overruns of $12.5 million. And a new Manitoba Housing complex about to come on stream will cost $300,000 per two-bedroom unit, they said.

Jim Murray, a hairstylist and 15-year school trustee, is challenging agri-retailer Reg Helwer in Brandon West. He said the retirement of the popular Borotsik puts that seat in play for the NDP. And he thinks the NDP’s record on health and education will be a boost for him on Oct. 4.

“Brandon West is going to be a battleground,” Murray said.

“I don’t think either one of us will be doing a happy dance until the last vote is counted.”

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

The provincial NDP promised Sunday to take another 3,000 Manitoba small businesses off the tax rolls by increasing their income threshold before provincial taxes are applied.

Standing in a crowded restaurant in Brandon, Premier Greg Selinger said a re-elected NDP government would raise the small business income limit to $500,000. The measure is expected to save small businesses $14.6 million in taxes annually.

“This will allow Manitoba to be the largest tax-free zone in Canada for small business,” he said. It’s estimated that 15,500 small businesses would no longer be paying business taxes in Manitoba once the measure is adopted.