Former Manitoba Justice Minister Andrew Swan says he is seeking the federal NDP nomination in Winnipeg Centre.
Swan says he will keep his legislature seat for the time being.
“My hope is that there will be an early date and this will be resolved one way or the other by the time we head back to the Legislature in March,” Swan told 680 CJOB Monday.
“If I’m successful, my plan is to remain for the spring session and then to resign my seat after we rise right at the start of June.”
Among the reasons for Swan’s decision to run federally is that his longtime provincial riding in Winnipeg’s West End is set to be affected by upcoming boundary changes.
“Minto was going to cease to exist, so even I was staying provincial, I’d be covering new territory,” he said.
“People in the West End certainly know who I am, but there’d be some striking out into some new areas.
“If I’m the federal candidate, I’ll be continuing to represent all of the West End, but also Wolseley, downtown, Centennial, Weston, and a big chunk of St. James as well.”
Winnipeg Centre has a long history of supporting the NDP, but Robert-Falcon Ouellette won the seat for the Liberals in the last election.
Ouellette’s predecessor Pat Martin – who once shared West End office space with Swan – held the seat for the NDP for almost 20 years.
“I’m going to continue to give the folks in the West End the kind of attention they’ve appreciated,” said Swan.
“This is an area with tremendous potential, but it’s an area with big challenges. We’ve seen the impact that addictions have, with opioids and methamphetamine. We have an MP (Ouellette) has has been missing in action on this file.”
Before he can take on Ouellette, Swan already faces one in-house competitor for the bid, Leah Gazan, an instructor at the University of Winnipeg.
With files from The Canadian Press.
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