MANITOBA VOTES 2023 – LA VERENDRYE: Narth brings record of public service to campaign

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/09/2023 (589 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Konrad Narth may be a rookie when it comes to provincial politics, but the PC candidate for La Verendrye is a seasoned veteran when it comes to representing the needs of people in his area.

He spent 12 years as a councillor in the RM of Stuartburn, has sat on numerous boards throughout the region and is a business owner and farmer who’s earned university degrees in business and economics.

He’s stepping into an election race in an electoral district that has been strongly PC for many years.

For the last three terms it has been held by PC MLA Dennis Smook, who announced his pending retirement last year.

“When the opportunity came up, I had felt that both my political experience, my business and personal involvement in Southeast MB, and my education had positioned me to be the best candidate,” he said. “I’m passionate about making not only our constituency the best that it can be with effective representation but also our province.”

Narth is a lifelong resident of La Verendrye, and was born and raised in the Zhoda area, the same area he currently lives with his wife Candice and two young boys Nash and Theo.

He’s not the only PC nominee that’s new to provincial politics. Fifteen PC MLAs have quit in the past year. But that positions the party well with a mix of veterans and newcomers Narth said.

“It’s really energizing right now because we do have those with experience and they have experience with some very high profile portfolios,” he said. “We’ve got basically a 50/50 mix of newcomers to the political scene and those that have experience.”

While Narth is confident he brings the right skills to the table, he’s not taking anything for granted despite being in a riding where Dennis Smook’s worst election netted him 64.1 percent of the vote in 2011. (Smook earned 71.2 percent in 2016 and 72.8 percent in 2019.)

“In all the elections that I’ve run municipally I’ve gotten in with 70 plus percent support, but they’ve always been contested elections,” he said. “That’s the best way to protect and show the value of the democratic system.”

“I’m not wanting to take this election for granted one bit,” he added. “We’ve been viewed as a safe constituency but there’s a lot of people who are passionate about this upcoming election and I want to make sure that I connect with each and every one of them.”

Narth said he wants to ensure people are aware of who he is and how he can be contacted, now and after the election.

Narth said people have been telling him their priorities.

“In southeast Manitoba we have a widespread population of people that align themselves with a conservative ideology and it’s come through loud and clear that they want their concerns and viewpoints delivered effectively at the Manitoba Legislature,” he said. “A lot of people are disappointed with seemingly seeing their voices being minimized to government and large governments basically dictating what’s delivered to the citizens.”

As such Narth pledges to provide effective representation of each person to Broadway and not Broadway dictating to the public of La Verendrye.

One of the most important issues to Narth is ensuring parents have rights when it comes to their children in schools.

The PC party promised to expand parental rights to allow them to be informed about curriculum, involved in addressing bullying or behavioural changes, and get advance notice about presentations. Consultations will be held to decide among other things if parents would have the right to be informed if their child expresses a different gender at school.

“I think all Manitobans are passionate about our children being educated and trained to be the most contributing members of the next generation,” he said.

Health care is also important, and Narth put the problems plaguing the system on the NDP.

“As the Conservative government we inherited a system that was broken prior to the previous eight years of conservative government,” he said.

Narth said the conservatives are the party best positioned to fix the issues in health care.

“You learn a lot from navigating your way through the problems,” the former RHA board member said.

He added that the NDP and Liberal parties will simply “throw money at the problem”.

“Rebuilding a broken system is what we’re willing to do,” he said. “The NDP, they’ve been the most vocal, touting themselves as the saviours of the health-care system throughout this election but basically the promises that I’m seeing is hiring more doctors, hiring more nurses and spending more money on things like ER infrastructure.”

While he admits money for infrastructure can help, he said simply adding money to hire nurses and doctors doesn’t, if they’re not available.

The PC Party has pledged $120 million over four years for recruiting heath care workers and $1.5 billion to rebuild the Health Sciences Centre’s adult bed towers and the University of Manitoba Bannatyne campus.

The NDP have promised $500 million to hire 400 more physicians, 600 more nurses and 100 more home care workers. They also will reopen emergency rooms at Concordia, Seven Oaks and Victoria hospitals, and will spend $350 million on a new CancerCare facility.

The Liberals have announced coverage for regulated therapy and psychotherapy and $10,000 incentives to attract health care workers who have left the field.

“It involves being more efficient and effective in delivery of healthcare rather than throwing money at the problem,” he said of the PC plan.

Being fiscally responsible is also important to Narth, who said that is at the forefront of importance in his business and personal life as well.

With plans to balance the budget by 2026, Narth said the PC plan makes sense.

“We’ve got a clear plan to growing our economy and that’s going to be the most effective way to get ourselves into a better position,” he said.

Narth would not interfere in government decisions on Sio Silica but said he does not take it lightly, expecting his government to give the matter due diligence.

As La Verendrye residents head to the polls, Narth said he’s right for the job.

“I feel that out of all the candidates running, I’m the one that’s able to navigate our political system the best, to be an effective voice, an effective representation for La Verendrye,” he said.

He added that he and his family are ready for the responsibility becoming an MLA brings.

“We are all on the same page and committed to making La Verendrye the best it can be,” he said.