Video: Lauren McNabb reports from Brandon, Man., after the Conservatives hold onto two Manitoba ridings
BRANDON, Man. – The Conservative Party held onto two Manitoba ridings but the Liberal party made strong gains in federal byelections on Monday.
Conservative Larry Maguire had a scare in Brandon-Souris, a riding that’s historically a Conservative stronghold, beating Liberal candidate Rolf Dinsdale by 391 votes.
In the 2011 general election, Conservative Merv Tweed took nearly two-thirds of the popular vote. The Liberal candidate placed a distant fourth in that election, behind both the NDP and the Green Party, with just over five per cent of the vote.
“I’m disappointed,” Disndale told his supporters after conceding defeat, but said the close race should be taken by the Conservatives as a warning. “Negative, cynical politics of the past will not work any longer.”
In Provencher, which was previously held by former public safety minister Vic Toews, Conservative Ted Falk won easily with 58.1 per cent of the vote. Liberal challenger Terry Hayward garnered 29.9 per cent.
But even there, the vote was closer than in 2011, when Toews took just over 70 per cent of the vote and Hayward placed third, behind the NDP, with less than seven per cent of the vote.
“We know that there is a stronger message there,” Maguire told his supporters, pledging to work for “fiscal responsibility without cuts in health care and education.”
While the Conservatives won the two byelections, the strong showings in Tory strongholds were painted as wins by the Liberals, and Dinsdale vowed to run against Maguire again in the next general election, set for Oct. 19, 2015.
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In Monday’s two other byelections, the Liberals retained their seats in Toronto-Centre and Montreal’s Bourassa riding.
Unofficial results from Elections Canada
Brandon-Souris
Rolf Dinsdale, Liberal – 11,814 – 42.7%
Frank William James Godon, Libertarian – 271 – 1%
*Larry Maguire, Conservative – 12,205 – 44.1%
David Michael Neufeld, Green Party – 1,354 – 4.9%
Cory Szczepanski, NDP – 2,037 – 7.4%
Provencher
Natalie Courcelles Beaudry, NDP – 1,837 – 8.2%
*Ted Falk, Conservative – 13,021 – 58.1%
Janine Gibson, Green Party – 849 – 3.8%
Terry Hayward, Liberal – 6,706 – 29.9%
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