Conservatives, Liberals hold on to seats in Manitoba federal byelections
Branden Leslie wins Portage-Lisgar, Ben Carr takes Winnipeg South Centre in unofficial results
Manitobans voted for two new members of Parliament on Monday, with voters following traditional voting patterns in the Portage-Lisgar and Winnipeg South Centre ridings.
Conservative Branden Leslie had almost 65 per cent of the vote in the Portage-Lisgar riding with 247 of 248 polls reporting, say unofficial results from Elections Canada.
Liberal Ben Carr took more than 55 per cent of the votes in Winnipeg South Centre with all polls reporting, the unofficial results say.
Portage-Lisgar has been traditionally held by the Conservatives, while Winnipeg South Centre has elected a Liberal MP in 10 of the past 11 federal elections.
The race in Winnipeg South Centre became necessary after the death late last year of Liberal cabinet minister Jim Carr. Liberals chose Carr's son, Ben, as the party's candidate.
Carr pulled in 55.5 per cent of the vote in unofficial results, while Conservative Damir Stipanovic was in second place with about 24 per cent, followed by the NDP's Julia Riddell with 14.5 per cent.
During his Monday night victory speech, Carr thanked his wife, supporters and and his father's former staffers who worked on the campaign.
"My dad is proud and grateful tonight, no doubt," said Carr, a former school principal and political staffer.
Carr said during his campaign, he ran into former students, their parents and other people who have known him for decades.
"To have the opportunity to serve as the member of Parliament for those that have helped play such a critical role in shaping the person that I am today will be the greatest privilege of my life."
Voters in Winnipeg South Centre chose from the lengthiest ballot in Canadian history, with 48 names listed. Of those, 42 were part of a co-ordinated effort from the Longest Ballot Committee in protest of the first-past-the-post voting system.
The riding has selected a Liberal MP in 10 of the past 11 federal elections; in the 2011 vote, Joyce Bateman took the seat when the federal Conservatives won a majority government.
Carr's father served Winnipeg South Centre from 2015 until his death in 2022. Carr said he misses his father's energy and optimism everyday.
"I feel the void of his loss profoundly. Over the last few weeks in particular, it has been painful to be without his support and guidance," he said. "Whatever awaits me in my time as a member of Parliament, I promise to continue abiding by the values that he instilled in me — to be curious, honest, hopeful and full of life, just as he was."
Leslie targets carbon tax, gun law
In Portage-Lisgar, Conservative Branden Leslie took just under 65 per cent of the votes with only one poll left to report, while People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier had 17.2 per cent of the votes in unofficial results.
The seat was left empty after former interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen resigned earlier this year.
The Liberals had 8.5 per cent of the votes and the NDP was in fourth with 7.1.
Leslie, a former political staffer who worked for a grain farmers' advocacy group, thanked a room full of cheering supporters as he gave his victory speech in Portage la Prairie, Man., on Monday night.
"It is an absolute honour to stand here in front of you as your Conservative member of Parliament for Portage-Lisgar," said Leslie, who described himself as a "regular farm kid from Portage."
"I can't tell you how good it feels to be here, representing my hometown."
Leslie said he's looking forward to being a strong Conservative voice for his community in the House of Commons. His campaign knocked on 30,000 doors in Portage-Lisgar during the campaign, and they heard stories from people who he said have been "divided" and "hurt."
During his speech, Leslie promised to fight the carbon tax and proposed gun laws introduced by Trudeau's Liberals, to protect farmers and crack down on repeat offenders through bail reform.
Leslie will work to "stand up for our rural way of life" and "fire Justin Trudeau in the next federal election," he said to cheers.
"This byelection is a strong message from our community that we want change."
Bernier defeated
Portage-Lisgar was one of the ridings where the People's Party of Canada got its highest support in the 2021 federal election, earning around 22 per cent of the vote.
With over 99 per cent of polls reporting early Tuesday morning, Bernier had just over 17 per cent of the vote.
While he hoped to have a better result on Monday, Bernier said pandemic health restrictions factored into the PPC's success in 2021.
"Don't forget that during the last election, it was all about COVID-19, and people here were very fed up with the restrictions," he told Radio-Canada at a byelection gathering in Winkler, Man., on Monday night.
Bernier said Monday's byelection is only the beginning for the PPC in Portage-Lisgar. He aims to return in the next federal election, saying he will be in the area regularly to increase support for the party.
"For me, the most important thing is to grow our support, and that's happening, and I will build from there for the next election."
Bernier said the People's Party is "the only national political party thinking about important issues" like relitigating the legal status of abortion, stopping what he calls "toxic transgender ideology" and ending what he says is the country's overreaction to climate change.
"It's the beginning of a quiet, peaceful, common-sense revolution, and you don't do that in one election," he said.
With files from Ian Froese, John Paul Tasker and Radio-Canada's Anne-Charlotte Carignan