Manitoba Ridings To Watch: Saint Boniface

Overview

This riding was won by Conservative MP Shelly Glover in 2008, after she defeated the incumbent Liberal candidate Raymond Simard by 4,712 votes. Simard held the riding from 2002 until 2008, but it has flipped between the Liberal and PC/Conservative parties in recent years: it was Liberal from 1988 to 2006, and then was taken by the Conservatives in 2008.

This is an urban riding and home to the Royal Canadian Mint, a hospital, a university college (Collège Universitaire de Saint-Boniface which is affiliated with University of Manitoba). The riding also boasts packing industries, railway yards, an industrial park and an oil refinery. These industries have helped boost the local economy, with manufacturing sectors and service sector becoming a prominent source of local employment. This riding is one of the few in western Canada with a significant Francophone population, with 15 per cent of constituents speaking French, and a large immigrant population of approximately 12 per cent. Twenty-three per cent of the 84,473 people that reside in St. Boniface riding hold a university degree or certificate, and the average family income is $80,776. The unemployment rate is 4.3 per cent.

Controversy

St. Boniface MP Shelly Glover came under fire at the beginning of the 2011 election for comments made about Liberal MP Anita Neville, who has served the Winnipeg South Centre riding for years. Glover suggested that Neville was "past her expiry date," but later stated that her comments were not meant as a slur against Neville, but rather as a suggestion that there needs to be new blood in Parliament.

Candidate Profiles

Shelly Glover – Conservatives

Glover has been an MP since 2008, named the Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages. Before that, She was a member of the Winnipeg Police Service for 19 years, and as such, is the first policewoman MP in Canadian history.

Ray Simard – Liberal

Simard was the MP for this riding from 2002 to 2008, when he ran against Shelly Glover and lost. During his time in Parliament, Simard expressed a special interest in matters relating to Francophone Canadians. In 2007, he was appointed Critic of Western Economic Development.

Patrice Miniely – NDP

Miniely works for Manitoba MLA Kerri Irvin-Ross (Fort Garry) as a constituency assistant, and was the former assistant to Diane McGifford, MLA for Lord Roberts, and to Jenny Gerbasi, City Councillor for Fort Rouge. She has been involved in Winnipeg Pride as chair, media spokesperson, festival coordinator and cabaret coordinator.

Marc Payette – Green

Payette currently works as a Programmer-Analyst for the Manitoba Government Employees Union, and is an active community volunteer.