COLUMN: Carillon Flashback May 3, 1999 – Tory colours in Steinbach passed to former grocer

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This article was published 06/08/2023 (690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than 700 Steinbach Constituency Conservatives jammed a warm Friedensfeld Community Centre last Monday, to pick Steinbach businessman Jim Penner as their representative in the next provincial election.

The nominating meeting saw Penner, former owner of Penner Foods, handily defeat Henry Dyck to claim the Conservative nomination for the seat held by retiring MLA Albert Driedger since the constituency was formed in 1989.

With 706 votes cast, Penner won by an unofficial margin of about four-to-one. Vote counts were not announced.

The large turnout for the first contested nomination in Steinbach constituency was obviously gratifying to the guest speaker for the evening, Premier Gary Filmon.

Also gratifying to Filmon was his announcement that negotiators for Manitoba Health and the Manitoba Nurses’ Union had reached tentative agreement on a new contract just two hours earlier.

A small group of nurses demonstrating outside the hall greeted Filmon on his arrival. The premier, however, was able to tell them agreement on a new contract had been reached at 6 p.m. that day.

The agreement was satisfying because his government had made a commitment to work out its differences with nurses in the province, rather than to legislate them back to work, as had been done in other provinces, Filmon told the meeting.

Filmon, noting the evening precisely marked the 11th anniversary of his first election as premier in 1988, told the large audience the Conservative Party remains in transition.

When he became party leader in 1983, he insisted it must undergo a constant process of renewal, growth and transition, Filmon recalled.

“We’re still a party in transition. We’re modernizing every month.

It is important the party keep expanding its horizons and talents. “Our greatest enemy is complacency.”

In addition to Penner, new candidates attracted to the party include aboriginal leaders and an inner city church ministry leader, Filmon noted.

The premier went on to insist the province can ill afford to relax economically, despite the fact the debt is dropping.

“We can’t take economic growth for granted … the status quo is not an option.”

Re-election of a Conservative government is vital to the continued growth of the Manitoba economy, he continued.

In the early 1990’s, Ontario “was brought to its knees by a single NDP government.”

British Columbia went from having the strongest provincial economy in Canada to the weakest during five years of NDP government, he pointed out.

Filmon warmly praised Driedger, who will shortly leave provincial politics after 22 years in office, as “the best constituency representative I have ever known in Manitoba.”

He also commended Driedger’s efforts as highways minister and later as minister of natural resources.

The premier said as highways minister, Driedger turned around a legacy of poor management of the provincial highways infrastructure.

“He built a lot of highways in this province.”

As natural resources minister, Driedger followed through with key changes in the Parks Act.

“He served all Manitobans with great distinction.”

Penner said he was attracted to the position because of the quality of the riding and its residents.

“I want to work with you. We need to work together as a team.”

Henry Dyck drew groans from the crowd when he promised to be a full-time MLA, not a retired man looking for a hobby.

– with files from Tim Plett