Morantz steps into MP role

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This article was published 28/10/2019 (2267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

New MP-elect for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley Marty Morantz is in great shape to head to Ottawa thanks to all his recent exercise on the campaign trail.

The 55-year-old lawyer and one-term city councillor said he knocked on almost 40,000 doors as he made his way through the riding over the past two months. He wore out two pairs of runners and a pair of boots.

According to Elections Canada’s unofficial vote tally, Morantz received 18,530 votes compared to incumbent and runner-up Liberal Party candidate Doug Eyolfson’s tally of 16,133 votes.

When Morantz entered his campaign headquarters at 3244 Portage Ave. in the late evening on Oct. 21, he was greeted by a large group of cheering supporters and stepped onto a platform following an introduction by provincial Progressive Conservative MLA Heather Stefanson.

After thanking his family, campaign team and supporters. Morantz thanked the riding’s voters.
“I’m absolutely delighted that voters in Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley placed their trust in me as part of a strong and renewed Opposition.”

He said he will work towards the Conservative Party’s goal of providing tax credits and tax relief for Canadians. “We want to have more money on the kitchen table and not in the government coffers,” he said. He added that the Liberal government hadn’t made good on its promise of balancing the federal budget.

In his speech on Oct. 21, Morantz vowed to support families affected by autism. This is a personal family issue for him as one of his sons had the disorder and he has worked with local autism support groups.

“It’s an issue that’s near and dear to my heart.” He hopes to be able to help introduce a national autism strategy during his time as MP.

While he is a novice when it comes to federal politics, Morantz said he feels he gained valuable and useful experience when he chaired the City of Winnipeg’s finance and infrastructure committees.

Eyolfson issued the following statement relating to the election results.

“While I’m disappointed by the outcome, I’ve got no regrets about the hard work my team and I did during the campaign.  

My time as the Member of Parliament for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley was thoroughly enjoyable and I’m confident that area residents will benefit in the future from healthcare programs that I played a role in building such as universal pharmacare.”

Unofficial results for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley
• Conservative – Marty Morantz – 18,530
• Liberal – Doug Eyolfson – 16,133
• New Democratic – Ken St. George – 6,484
• Green Party – Kristin Lauhn-Jensen – 2,114
• People’s Party – Steven Fletcher – 1,941
• Christian Heritage Party – Melissa Penner – 161
• Independent – Brian Ho – 147

Voter turnout was 69.61 per cent.