NDP wins but Southeast stays blue

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This article was published 05/10/2023 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wab Kinew led his party to power in Manitoba on Tuesday, as the NDP swept the PC Party into the opposition ranks in a night that saw Manitobans elect the first First Nations provincial premier in Canadian history.

Kinew led the NDP to 34 seats thanks to gains in Winnipeg, leaving the PC Party with 22. The Liberals saw their seat count drop from three to just one.

PC Party leader Heather Stefanson won her Tuxedo seat but announced her resignation as party leader. Liberal leader Dougald Lamont resigned after seeing his St Boniface seat go to NDP challenger Robert Loiselle.

Southeast Manitoba is still painted blue on the electoral maps, but nearly every PC candidate had their worst showing in terms of popular vote.

Even Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, who was running in his sixth election, saw his worst level of support ever at 72.6 percent. His previous worst was his first election in 2003 when he earned 74.6 percent of the vote. He nearly cracked 90 percent support in 2016.

Only Borderland’s Josh Guenter bucked the trend, seeing his support rise from 66.1 percent in 2019 to 72.5 percent.

Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen described his sixth win as “bittersweet”. He said while it’s tough to see his government fall, it’s also hard because of the people that are no longer there.

“When you lose seats, you lose friends,” he said.

Goertzen spent election night with Andrew Micklefield, the PC incumbent in Rossmere who was defeated by the NDP’s Tracy Schmidt.

But he’s also thankful for his win and the support that represents.

“Winning six consecutive elections is not something I would have imagined,” he said. “To still see such overwhelming support personally feels very gratifying for me and my family.”

Goertzen said he’s not surprised to see his support drop, seeing it as a symptom of being in government for over seven years.

He said encounters while campaigning were overwhelmingly positive, and fundraising was very strong.

“It was probably more than I expected going into the campaign so I’m obviously thankful for that,” he said.

Despite Heather Stefanson giving up the party’s leadership, Goertzen said he has no intentions of competing for the top job, responding to the question with “certainly not as the permanent leader”.

“We’re in a time now I think where the party needs to transition to newer people,” he said. “I want to help in that transition.”

Goertzen said he’s looking to a new generation of progressive conservatives to take on leadership roles.

PC party holds vigil

It felt more like a vigil than a party at PC headquarters on election night.

Even PC candidates were in short supply with only one from the Southeast even bothering to attend. Dawson Trail’s Bob Lagasse was the last of his colleagues to earn the status as confirmed elected during the evening.

Early on PC confirmed wins were met with loud applause and cheering, but even that became quieter as the evening went on.

PC leader Heather Stefanson took to the stage late in the evening, after phoning NDP leader Wab Kinew with her congratulations.

In a brief speech she spoke kindly of Wab Kinew, although she added they don’t always agree.

“I know that he loves this province and he loves the people of Manitoba and I wish him all the best,” she said.

She also noted the historic nature of the election, as Manitoba has the first First Nation premier in all of Canada.

“Wab, I hope that your win tonight inspires a future generation of Indigenous youth to get involved in our democratic process,” she said.

She also thanked her family and spoke about successes of the last two years before announcing her resignation.

“It is with a heavy heart tonight that I am announcing that I will be stepping down as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba,” she said. “I look forward to meeting with caucus and the party executives to prepare the path forward from tonight and I look forward to working with the party to ensure a smooth process is in place to replace me as your leader.”

She described her time as premier as “the honour of my life”, before sharing an extended hug with her family.

Then with a final wave to loud applause, she exited the room and her position as party leader to Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”.

2023 Election Results

Steinbach

PC – Kelvin Goertzen 5,863

NDP – Gord Meneer 1,220

LIB – Cindy Friesen 801

Green – Gabrielle Simard-Nadeau (withdrawn) 62

Dawson Trail

PC – Bob Lagasse 5,016

NDP – Chris Wiebe 4,258

Green – Marcel Broesky 441

Springfield-Ritchot

PC – Ron Schuler 5,737

NDP – Tammy Ivanco 3,804

LIB – Trevor Kirczenow 890

La Verendrye

PC – Konrad Narth 4,840

NDP – Bianca Siem 1,609

Keystone Party – Matthew Wiebe 782

LIB – Monica Guetre 647

Lac du Bonnet

PC – Wayne Ewasko 3,298

NDP – Kathy Majowski 1,781

Green – Blair Mahaffy 459

Borderland

PC – Josh Guenter 4,479

NDP – Richard Derksen 909

LIB – Loren Braul 764