Manitoba candidates begin their campaigns

Candidates across Manitoba readied lawn signs and rallied volunteers Sunday, following the calling of the next federal election, which will take place amid a trade war launched by the United States and its threats to Canadian sovereignty.

Election day will be held in five weeks, on Monday, April 28, with the Liberal and Conservative parties currently in a near dead heat, according to the latest polling.

Mark Carney, who won the Liberal party leadership in a landslide victory earlier this month, also spoke to a number of his priorities, including ending barriers to interprovincial trade and a proposed middle class tax cut, while taking several shots at Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who also launched his campaign Sunday.

On Sunday, which marks day one of what will be a 36-day campaign, the shortest allowed by law, campaign signs started popping up in Winnipeg, with Liberal candidate Rahul Walia dotting Winnipeg Centre with signs particularly quickly.

The NDP incumbent for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, Niki Ashton, spoke to the Free Press by phone Sunday, before heading to a fishing derby on Paint Lake, south of Thompson, hosted by the Keewatin Tribal Council. With five hundred fishing holes drilled, anglers were competing for a $25,000 top prize.

Ashton has represented the geographically vast northern riding since 2008.

“What we’ve seen clearly for Mark Carney is that he’s not progressive, and, frankly, he might as well be a conservative,” she said, noting that when he was sworn in, Carney got rid of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada as a standalone cabinet post, instead folding the responsibility alongside that of the Justice department and Attorney General portfolios.

She also critisized Carney for his failure to sit down for an interview with the national Indigenous broadcaster, APTN, ahead of his election to the party leadership, and said his employment with Brookfield Asset Management reveals a history of ignoring Indigenous rights.

“His slogan, and this is particularly concerning for our region, is ‘spend less, invest more.’ This is a part of the country that faces major challenges – a housing crisis, an infrastructure crisis,” she said, citing issues like the lack of an airport in Wasagamack First Nation, as well as the need for all-weather roads, as the effects of climate change accelerate.

In Winnipeg, Ben Carr, the Liberal incumbent for Winnipeg South Centre, was making preparations Sunday morning for a day of door-knocking and sign delivery. At his campaign office off Pembina Highway – in a repurposed Hakim Optical franchise – Liberal-branded tee-shirts were stacked up on one table, alongside another of croissants, muffins and oranges, with several volunteers manning the phones.

Carr told the Free Press that if he were to pick one word to describe this campaign, it would be “purpose,” stating that volunteers and constituents want to stand up for Canada.

“My interactions with people in the last few weeks certainly suggest that the United States, Donald Trump, and the future of Canada is what is top of mind for most,” said Carr, speaking over the rising chatter of the more than 20 people of varying ages, including an exuberant kindergartener, gathered to support.

Carr praised Carney as the person Canada needs “to meet the moment” and contrasted him with Poilievre, who he said has “proven incapable of elevating himself, and his party, to the standard that Canadians rightly demand and need.”

Ian Gillies, Carr’s volunteer co-chair of signs, and a former commissioner of the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission, said the campaign expects to put up roughly 1,000 signs in the riding, though the frozen ground will make for a challenge.

“I have a fearsome drill set that actually drills little holes into the frozen ground to put the stakes in the holes,” he said, before gesturing to a pile of roughly 600 stacked up signs. These were being reused – Carr was first elected to federal office in a 2023 by-election – though a “re-elect” sticker had to be added, while new signs are being ordered from local suppliers, Gillies explained.

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“I think in 2015, it was a pretty important election for the country – a turning point in a way – and I feel the same way this time around, with the added significance of our sovereignty at issue,” Gillies said.

Meanwhile, Conservative candidates were also ramping up their campaigns, both on social media and on the ground.

“Finally, the race is on, the election has been called,” said Branden Leslie, the incumbent for Portage-Lisgar, in a video posted to social media on Sunday.

“If you agree with me that it’s time that we axe the tax, that we stop the rampant crime in our communities, and we finally get projects built again in this country, I need your help,” he said, appealing to his constituents to sign up to receive a lawn sign or volunteer with his team.

“If you agree that it’s time to protect our sovereignty, to defend Canada and finally, put Canada first for a change, join my team,” he added.

Marsha McLeod
Investigative reporter

Marsha is an investigative reporter. She joined the Free Press in 2023.

   Read full biography