With exactly two months until Election Day, Manitoba’s party leaders are gearing up for a campaign — and it’s one that could get nasty, with hot-button issues like health care and crime dominating local headlines for most of the year.
Recent polls have indicated it’ll be a tight race between the governing Progressive Conservatives and opposition NDP, with the New Democrats ahead among Winnipeggers and the PCs showing a strong lead in rural areas.
Incumbent Premier Heather Stefanson told Global News she’s excited about the campaign and said her governing Progressive Conservative party intends to stay the course.
“I don’t put a lot of credence in polls. We’re not going to change what we’re going to do. We’re going to continue to work hard every single day over the course of the next 60 days, right up until that election day,” Stefanson said.
“All of our candidates are out knocking on doors talking to Manitobans, listening to them, learning from them about what their challenges are and how we can do better.”
The premier said voters shouldn’t expect her party or its candidates to alter their established positions on key issues leading up to the election, including the controversial decision not to search the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Stefanson said she’s also prepared for potential personal attacks from her opponents.
“That’s sort of the nature of politics and the nature of campaigns, I think.
“I don’t like the negativity around that personally, I don’t like personal attacks and those types of things, but it’s not going to change anything I do. I’ve been involved in politics for a long time and I think we need to have thick skin.”
Opposition NDP leader Wab Kinew said he’s expecting mudslinging in the campaign as well.
“The PCs are going to get nasty, and the reason why is that’s all they’ve got,” Kinew told Global Winnipeg.
“Heather Stefanson can’t run on the disaster in the healthcare system right now, so they’re going to go low … and for us, we’re going to go hard, don’t get me wrong, but we’re going to go hard on the issues. We’re going to keep it focused on the things that actually matter to you and the rest of the people of Manitoba out there.”
Kinew said his goal is to give Manitobans a government they can be proud of again, and that means reaching voters in every corner of the province.
“We’re very proud to represent all of northern Manitoba, so we’re going to be in the north quite a bit,” he said.
“We’ve made a point of doing a lot of outreach in rural (Manitoba), and of course every part of the city. For sure, a lot of kilometres are being put on the odometer, but it’s so good to talk to the people of Manitoba.”
Kinew said the NDP has been developing an excellent slate of candidates, with more to announce, including in his own riding of Fort Rouge.
“We’ve been ramping up over the course of the summer, and though many Manitobans might not be thinking about politics at this time of the year, we certainly are.
“The dance card is pretty much filling up, but we do save a few nominations for closer to the election period. For example, I’ll be the last candidate nominated — we’ll use that as one of our election campaign events.”
Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said his party is running on a positive message for people in the province.
“I hate to make predications, so we just have to work as hard as we can,” Lamont told Global Winnipeg.
“I think we have an enormous opportunity here and we’ve been working really hard for it.
“We want to put forward a really positive message, because we think there are amazing things that can happen in Manitoba … when you elect Manitoba Liberals.”
Lamont acknowledged that the Liberals, who currently hold just three of 57 seats in the Manitoba Legislature, have been on the outside watching the government change hands between the PCs and NDP for decades, but that outsider status means they can represent real change for voters.
“People say, ‘It’s been a long time since you’ve been in government,’ and that’s true,” he said.
“I think we can offer real change, but the most important thing we can offer is ideas, and a plan.
“We really are taking a different approach. It’s very based on solutions and based on fixing the things that are broken and getting Manitobans to work together in a way the other parties just haven’t.”
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