Who’s who in the zoo

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/03/2015 (3939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Now that the 2016 provincial election campaign is underway, here’s a list of candidates nominated so far from the three main political parties, so that you can keep score at home:

NDP (All incumbent MLAs)

– CONCORDIA – Matt Wiebe
– THE MAPLES – Mohinder Saran
– KILDONAN – Dave Chomiak
– ELMWOOD – Jim Maloway
– BURROWS – Melanie Wight
– ROSSMERE – Erna Braun
– ST. JAMES – Deanne Crothers
– WOLSELEY – Rob Altemeyer
– ST. NORBERT – Dave Gaudreau
– KIRKFIELD PARK – Sharon Blady
– FORT GARRY RIVERVIEW – James Allum
– DAWSON TRAIL – Ron Lemieux
– SELKIRK – Greg Dewar

Progressive Conservative

– MINTO – Belinda Squance
– SELKIRK – David Horbas
– INTERLAKE – Derek Johnson
– KEWATINOOK – Edna Nabess
– THE PAS – Jacob Nasekapow
– RADISSON – James Teitsma
– SWAN RIVER – Rick Wowchuk
– RIEL – Rochelle Squires
– ELMWOOD – Sarah Langevin
– KIRKFIELD PARK – Scott Fielding
– RIVER EAST – Cathy Cox (MLA Bonnie Mitchelson is not running again)
– FORT GARRY-RIVERVIEW – Jeannette Montufar
– EAST ST. PAUL – MLA Ron Schuler
– TUXEDO – MLA Heather Stefanson
– FORT WHYTE – PC Leader Brian Pallister
– MORRIS – MLA Shannon Martin
– STEINBACH – MLA Kelvin Goertzen
– ARTHUR-VIRDEN – MLA Doyle Piwniuk
– MORDEN-WINKLER – MLA Cameron Friesen
– CHARLESWOOD – MLA Myrna Driedger
– EMERSON – MLA Cliff Graydon
– SPRUCE WOODS – MLA Cliff Cullen
– LAC DU BONNET – MLA Wayne Ewasko
– LAKESIDE – MLA Ralph Eichler
– LA VERENDRYE – MLA Dennis Smook
– BRANDON WEST – MLA Reg Helwer
– MIDLAND – MLA Blaine Pedersen
– PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE – MLA Ian Wishart
– AGASSIZ – (Nomination meeting is March 14. MLA Stu Briese is not running again. There are four candidates for nomination)

Liberal

– RIVER HEIGHTS – MLA Jon Gerrard
– INTERLAKE -Jamal Abas
– BURROWS – Cindy Lamoureux
– RADISSON – Scott Newman
– TYNDALL PARK – Aida Champagne (PENDING)

The Tories are busy nominating candidates in the event Premier Greg Selinger calls an early election, before the scheduled date of April 19, 2016.

All things are possible with the NDP leadership contest now under our belts, but the most pressing thing for Selinger is calling a byelection in The Pas, which has been without a representative in the legislative assembly since the resignation of former NDP Frank Whitehead May 16, 2014.

An empty seat must be filled within a year of a seat being vacated.

What Selinger must balance is the timing of the byelection and the timing of his government’s next budget and start of the spring sitting.

The Election Financing Act says that government advertising must be suspended during a byelection period, meaning Selinger is prohibited from making ‘good news’ announcements and cutting ribbons. The NDP have been tripped up before on this point over past few years.

By law, the minimum campaign period is 33 days. 

What could figure into this is what Selinger’s archfoe Theresa Oswald decides to do with the rest of her life in the coming days.

It’s quite possible that she could resign as the MLA for Seine River, creating a need for a second byelection.

By looking at the above list of nominated candidates, you’ll see no one has been nominated to run in Seine River.

Yet.

 

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca