Dawson Trail PC incumbent holds on, says party went ‘too far right’

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This article was published 05/10/2023 (655 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was a lot closer this time, but Dawson Trail incumbent MLA Bob Lagassé kept the entire Southeast PC blue with his win on election night.

He believes consistency helped him keep his seat for a third term.

“I haven’t changed since 2016 other than having more tattoos. I always promised people that I would work hard and get them answers, and I think that’s what people respect even though they don’t always like the answers they get. I would love to think that’s what got me back,” said Lagassé the day after the election.

He does have some ideas as to why the Progressive Conservative campaign did not work, with the NDP able to secure a majority government and sending him to the Opposition bench for the first time.

“When you give an answer to something, you shouldn’t re-bring it up. I just felt like it seemed we had gone very far right on a lot of the stuff, and it wasn’t necessarily resonating. It’s not who I am as an individual,” said Lagassé.

In the last days leading up to election night, the PCs focused advertising on NDP leader Wab Kinew’s criminal record from his early 20s for an assault against a cab driver, and domestic assault charges that were dropped.

“I’m not someone who feels we need to use someone else’s hurt or past things to get ahead. We should all recognize we’re human, and we all made errors, and we’re all trying to do what’s best for people,” said Lagassé.

He sees a role for himself as a more moderate voice in the PC party.

“There are others like me in the party, and I know others like me have been elected. So it’s going to be a discussion that’s going to have to happen internally, and we’ll see where it goes,” said Lagassé.

But he is not considering a run at the party’s leadership after Heather Stefanson stepped down.

“I think being an MLA is already a leadership role. I’m willing to do whatever is needed of me with the team. I’m also not inspiring to be the leader because with my mental health struggles in the past, you’ve got a giant target on your back. And that I don’t think would help with any of my mental health struggles… it’s not an easy role,” said Lagassé.

He had kind words for the departing premier, who he felt was an upgrade personally from her predecessor Brian Pallister.

“Heather as a person has been fantastic. I can tell you from the previous leader to her, I felt heard. And I know our constituents were heard. If I text her, she would get back to me, whereas with the previous leader that didn’t exist. And it was a genuine getting back, you could tell she actually cared. I’m going to miss that aspect of it. And I would always send her little encouragement texts as well because it’s tough being in those roles,” said Lagassé.

First-time NDP candidate Chris Wiebe did not wish to comment on his loss, but he did respond that he would like to run again in the next election. He placed second with 43.5 percent of the vote to Lagassé’s 51.3 percent. The NDP placed third in 2019 with 21.5 percent of the vote to Lagassé’s 54.7 percent. The Liberals placed second last time, but did not run a candidate in Dawson Trail this election.

Turnout was up this election to 63 percent of registered voters, versus 58 percent in 2019.

Kinew acknowledged most of the NDP’s success was inside Winnipeg.

“To people in rural Manitoba, to people in northern Manitoba, I want to say thank-you for sending people from your communities to sit with our team at the Manitoba legislature. And to people in rural Manitoba who haven’t voted for us yet, I would ask you to keep an open mind. And if our team delivers, if after a few years we have improved your health care and we have made your life a bit more affordable, I would humbly ask that in four years time you send more people from your communities to sit with our team,” said Kinew during his election-night victory speech from the Fort Garry Hotel.

Priorities for the re-elected MLA include getting some more work done on highways and the upcoming Sio Silica decision.

“The Sio Silica thing is still very much up in the air. We committed to follow the science, and I would like to see the NDP do the same,” said Lagassé.

“If this isn’t safe, we shouldn’t be doing it. That’s my opinion. But if it’s safe, then let’s do it.”

He also wants to put forward a private members bill dealing with mental health, with details to come.

“I will continue to advocate on that, especially on men’s mental health,” said Lagassé.