Lamoureux takes Winnipeg North for a fifth successive election

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This article was published 20/09/2021 (1817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Liberal candidate Kevin Lamoureux has been re-elected in the Winnipeg North electoral district. 

“I’m feeling good,” Lamoureux said. “At the end of the day, when we called the election, we were looking for a new mandate, and we got just that.”

With the win, Lamoureux retains a seat he’s held for 11 years. The incumbent said the riding is dear to his heart. 

“I love it. Winnipeg North is my home. The people of Winnipeg North are the greatest people in the world,” he said. “Nothing makes me happier than when I’m actually meeting with them and getting a sense of what it is that they believe is important.”

Lamoureux makes a point of being visible in the community, holding regular meetings at a McDonald’s — the owner of which celebrated with Lamoureux after the win. 

While it appeared at deadline that the Liberal Party was on track to fall short of a parliamentary majority, Lamoureux backed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to call the election. He complained that the previous culture in the House of Commons was toxic, pointing the finger at the opposition, but did not say how another minority government might address this issue.

The re-elected MP campaigned on several key issues, such as health care, post-pandemic recovery and environmental issues.

He has said the federal government “needs to play a stronger role” in long-term health care, national pharmacare and financial support for both individuals and businesses. 

He has also voiced support for the Canada Greener Homes Grant program, which may provide up to 700,000 grants up to $5,000 each for homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient. 

Lamoureux boasts his vigour in the House of Commons, claiming to have spoken more on the floor than any other MP. He also touts the fact he has more than 30 years of experience in politics. 

He was first elected as the riding’s member of Parliament in 2010 and has now successfully defended his seat four times — in 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2021. 

Previous to Lamoureux, the NDP’s Judy Wasylycia-Leis held the post for 13 years. In Lamoureux’s first re-election bid, the NDP candidate at the time rode that momentum and nipped at his heels, but Lamoureux eked out a victory by a mere 44 votes. Since then, however, the MP has glided into office without much challenge. The Liberal candidate won the 2019 election by 22 percentage points. 

He added another shellacking to his resume this year, holding a 20 point lead over NDP challenger Melissa Chung-Mowat when the race was called. 

Before moving up to the federal level, Lamoureux was MLA for the former constituency of Inkster. He gained that office in 1990 and held it for 20 years, enduring the ups and downs of the Liberal party. At one point he even left the party caucus to sit as an “independent Liberal” in protest of former Liberal party leader Ginny Hasselfield, to whom he lost a bid to head the provincial party himself. 

According to the 2016 census, 95,676 people live in the Winnipeg North electoral district. Just over half of the population identifies as a visible minority, and 17.9 per cent identify as Indigenous. The average income for the riding is $32,984. 

Lamoureux’s daughter, Cindy Lamoureux, currently represents the Tyndall Park constituency in the Manitoba Legislature.