Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson commits to Oct. 3 vote
Stefanson previously gave herself an out, saying exceptional circumstances could necessitate earlier vote
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson may have ended whatever speculation still existed about the possibility of an early election.
Stefanson said definitively that she's sticking with the scheduled provincial election date of Oct. 3 in an interview Tuesday with CBC Manitoba's Information Radio host Marcy Markusa.
Asked if she'd rule out an early election, Stefanson chuckled.
"The election will be on Oct. 3," she said.
"That sounds like you've ruled out an early election call for us this morning," Markusa replied.
Stefanson has previously signalled she's leaning toward the fixed election date, but wouldn't be pinned down on it.
LISTEN | Marcy Markusa interviews Premier Heather Stefanson on Information Radio:
In a March interview, she gave herself an out by saying Oct. 3 is the election date "as of now."
She said there could be "different complicating matters," citing the potential for a federal election in the same time period.
"Manitobans don't want to have two elections at the same time, or overlapping elections. I think they want us to be at work getting the job done for them, and we'll continue to do that," she told CBC Winnipeg News at 6 after presenting her government's budget.
Progressive Conservative House leader Kelvin Goertzen had dampened election speculation in November, when he said the government fully intends to hold the election on the scheduled date, but he too brought up the potential for exceptional circumstances prompting a visit to the polls before Oct. 3.
On Tuesday, Stefanson's answer was succinct, yet definitive.
The last provincial election in Manitoba happened in 2019, a year earlier than the fixed election date.
Christopher Adams, adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said the premier is wise to stick with a fall date.
It gives the Progressive Conservatives more time to reap the benefits of their promises, including those contained in the 2023 budget, which increased spending for every government department, he said.
"It allows many of those things to start working their way through the system," Adams said.
"If you're promising more things than health care, recruiting nurses, those sorts of things, those things don't happen immediately."
He said the Tories have momentum on their side. The NDP still enjoys the support of more Manitobans, polling data from Probe Research suggests, but their popular-opinion advantage over the governing PCs has slipped from 11 percentage points to six percentage points.
The approach of the Progressive Conservatives has shifted from trying to avoid an embarrassing defeat to striving to win, Adams said.
The election campaign is shaping up, with the Progressive Conservatives spending more than $1 million to promote government initiatives, while the New Democrats went into PC territory Monday to make the case they can fix health care in rural Manitoba.
However, the parties still need more candidates to contest an election.
The Progressive Conservative Party still has more than 20 candidates to nominate, including many in the Winnipeg seats currently held by the NDP. The Tories have selected just two candidates in the 18 NDP-held constituencies.
Party websites state the PCs have currently nominated 31 of a possible 57 candidates, while the NDP have 37 hopefuls selected, the Liberals 10 and the Green Party seven.
Heckling getting more heated: Stefanson
Meanwhile, Stefanson said she'd like to see a change in the way politicians treat each other in the legislature, after high-profile incidents in which accusations of heckling and profanity were raised.
The premier said heckling has been part of question period for her two-plus decades at the legislature, but it's getting "more heated" than she's seen it.
"I don't like it at all, frankly," Stefanson said. "I'm not a combative person, I don't like that kind of behaviour in general, but I will say that it's their side of the house as much as it is ours.
"I think the important thing here is we do have children visiting in the gallery, sometimes during question period. We need to maintain that decorum."
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With files from The Canadian Press