Manitoba Election

[BubberMiley]

So you lost money and you don't want anyone held responsible?

Doer may not have stolen your money but he is the only one that could call an inquiry

that would find who is responsible! But what they hey. You didn’t loose that much. What about everyone else?

It's before the courts. Those who are responsible will be accountable. An inquiry would cost $12 million and would basically duplicate the court's work. It's just a political stunt for the election that would just result in more money down the drain if executed.

[jdobbin]

Looks like the NDP are in a for a massive majority.

http://winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/...p-4581837c.html

Which party's candidate are you most likely to support in this provincial election?

NDP: 44 per cent

PC: 37 per cent

Liberal: 16 per cent

Others: 3 per cent

[Canuck E Stan]

Now everyone is claiming to be bringing back a hockey team to the 'Peg.

Will it be the Winnipeg Dippers,the Winnipeg Cons or the Winnipeg Lost?

[jdobbin]

Now everyone is claiming to be bringing back a hockey team to the 'Peg.

Will it be the Winnipeg Dippers,the Winnipeg Cons or the Winnipeg Lost?

Who else is claiming this? The Tories managed to damage their entire campaign with this promise.

[Canuck E Stan]

Who else is claiming this? The Tories managed to damage their entire campaign with this promise.

Jets promised to Winnipegers

Progressive Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen boldly promised to bring back the team.

McFadyen's announcement, with former Jet Thomas Steen at his side, was aimed at showcasing the Tories as a party that could restore hope and pride.

NDP Premier Gary Doer lambasted McFadyen for making the promise, but was quick to add that he has been quietly talking with private interests and exploring ways to lure a team to Winnipeg.

And the Liberals.....they probably say they are looking too.

[jdobbin]

And the Liberals.....they probably say they are looking too.

Shows how much you know about the Liberals in Manitoba. They have made no such promise.

As for the NDP, they have hitched their wagon to the Blue Bombers. Another stupid commitment without looking at the alternatives.

[ambayer]

And the Liberals.....they probably say they are looking too.

Shows how much you know about the Liberals in Manitoba. They have made no such promise.

As for the NDP, they have hitched their wagon to the Blue Bombers. Another stupid commitment without looking at the alternatives.

Stumbled upon this site and wish I had known about it earlier. Stopping by to say thank you for the vote of confidence. In my respectful view, what is missing from the discussion of the inclusion/exclusion of strong candidates and the likelihood of who will will and lose is the more significant issue of timing and "the game".

I am a lawyer who is not a huge fan of litigation particularly given my area of practice, high conflict family law. In too many cases, litigation becomes the game and the focus of the litigation is strategy and moves along the game board. The children become the casualties of the game and in the end, everyone is shocked to find out that no one wins "the game". And so, I have found in my brief introduction to and education of politics.

I am flattered and encouraged by the support of my constituents. I did not sign up for this, I was asked. I said yes because I truly feel this is a privilege and an opportunity and because I value my Country and wanted to support and advocate my deep appreciation for having lived and benefitted from a democratic governance.

33 days. This is simply not enough. Not enough to allow candidates to prepare, to educate themselves, to allow them to become well informed, grounded, well educated rather than well meaning individuals. It is no wonder to me that candidates numbers and answers change like the wind and that policies and promises change and develop over the course of the campaign moreso for parties who are not the incumbents. It is purposeful. It is intended. The only party which benefits from this is the incumbent.

This is not sour grapes. It may well be that with 60 days, 90 days or 120 days, the incumbent would still succeed and so be it, if that is the case, as it should be. How the current system however, which allows an election to be called within 33 days, which is something that is now used in strategic ways to win "the game", supports, maintains and encourages the continuance and development of our democracy, democratic principles - is beyond me.

The electorate, like the children suffers, and I am hoping that with the growing frustration I am hearing at the doors, they will realize it. 33 days is not sufficient time, for the electorate to become well informed, grounded and well educated either with respect to the issues, the candidates or the parties platforms. This is not sufficient to allow most voters to become informed voters.

I am always glad to hear that someone is voting, regardless of their inclination whether it be Liberal, PC, NDP or otherwise. That is the beginning. I have a very hard time hearing that someone is choosing not to vote. The next important step is a move to making an informed vote (not that there are not a significant number of people who are not doing that particularly in an age of technological dependency).

What I have found and continue to find in the last few days, is still a significant number of people who will say: "Good thing you stopped by. I needed to meet you. Now you will have my vote." I have over 16,000 constituents in my riding. It is impossible that I will meet each and every one or even one half of my constituents even if I door knocked 24/7 for 33 days.

I have attended community events, seniors residences and had events at the campaign office. I established a website from the get go and invited people to contact me directly by email or on my cell and put it out there that if anyone wanted to meet me, wanted me to attend to their street, event, or otherwise, simply to request same and I would make it happen.

I do not believe my challenge in Tuxedo was that it was a well established PC riding. I believe that with more time, this could have been a far more interesting run, for me and for my constituents. I support a set election date. I support better prepared, informed and educated candidates. I support a better prepared, informed and educated electorate.

I also acknowledge that parties must step up and be organized and prepared well in advance of elections. We need to have strong, prepared candidates in place months in advance of the election.

We also need to recognize that elections are not really about the politicians or at least they are not the key stakeholders. The voters are. For a democracy to work, we need to all be as prepared, informed and educated as we can be. Open up a paper. Watch CNN. Vote. Make it count. Make it meaningful.

[jdobbin]

I do not believe my challenge in Tuxedo was that it was a well established PC riding. I believe that with more time, this could have been a far more interesting run, for me and for my constituents. I support a set election date. I support better prepared, informed and educated candidates. I support a better prepared, informed and educated electorate.

I also acknowledge that parties must step up and be organized and prepared well in advance of elections. We need to have strong, prepared candidates in place months in advance of the election.

We also need to recognize that elections are not really about the politicians or at least they are not the key stakeholders. The voters are. For a democracy to work, we need to all be as prepared, informed and educated as we can be. Open up a paper. Watch CNN. Vote. Make it count. Make it meaningful.

Thanks for your response. Good luck on Tuesday. I think you can be encouraged that over 40,000 people have voted in advance polls, a huge increase from the last election. I voted this past Friday with my wife.

The campaign waged has been a good one and the policies have been well thought out. Best of luck!

[Canuck E Stan]

Any predictions for the seat outcome on May22 ?

2003 election

Liberal 2

NDP 35

PC 20

------------------------------------

Here's mine for 2007

Liberals 1

NDP 33

PC 22

Green 1

[jdobbin]

Any predictions for the seat outcome on May22 ?

2003 election

Liberal 2

NDP 35

PC 20

------------------------------------

Here's mine for 2007

Liberals 1

NDP 33

PC 22

Green 1

The Greens will not win a seat.

The strongest area they are in is Wolseley and the NDP finished off with 57% there in the last election.

My first guess is a repeat of the 2003 election result.

If the NDP loses any seats, it could be Wellington or Maples where they have removed sitting NDP MLAs and screwed up their nomination process as they did it.

[ambayer]

I do not believe my challenge in Tuxedo was that it was a well established PC riding. I believe that with more time, this could have been a far more interesting run, for me and for my constituents. I support a set election date. I support better prepared, informed and educated candidates. I support a better prepared, informed and educated electorate.

I also acknowledge that parties must step up and be organized and prepared well in advance of elections. We need to have strong, prepared candidates in place months in advance of the election.

We also need to recognize that elections are not really about the politicians or at least they are not the key stakeholders. The voters are. For a democracy to work, we need to all be as prepared, informed and educated as we can be. Open up a paper. Watch CNN. Vote. Make it count. Make it meaningful.

Thanks for your response. Good luck on Tuesday. I think you can be encouraged that over 40,000 people have voted in advance polls, a huge increase from the last election. I voted this past Friday with my wife.

The campaign waged has been a good one and the policies have been well thought out. Best of luck!

Thanks again. So glad to find individuals who are involved and interested.

[jdobbin]

A couple of hours left to vote in Manitoba. It has been raining very steadily since this afternoon. The vote this morning was light. No one is sure how the rain will affect the vote but there are usually a number who will abandon the polls over it. Last election had 54% turn out. It would be very sad if the vote fell below that.

There will be a few ridings to watch tonight. The NDP are vulnerable in a few ridings, the Tories are fighting hard to hold others. The Liberals fight every election to hold what they have.

[Melanie_]

Polls just closed, and the coverage is beginning. I cast my vote for a lost cause, as none of the parties put up any kind of fight against Hugh McFayden in my constituency. Even so, all signs point to an NDP majority.

[jdobbin]

Polls just closed, and the coverage is beginning. I cast my vote for a lost cause, as none of the parties put up any kind of fight against Hugh McFayden in my constituency. Even so, all signs point to an NDP majority.

Who was the lost cause in your riding? lol

[Melanie_]

I live in Whyte Ridge. Anyone running against McFayden is a lost cause, I thought. But I just saw the results of the first poll to report, and there is only a difference of 8 votes (41 PC; 33 NDP; a few Liberal). Maybe not so lost a cause as I thought - but I think the NDP candidate would be shocked if he won!

[jdobbin]

I live in Whyte Ridge. Anyone running against McFayden is a lost cause, I thought. But I just saw the results of the first poll to report, and there is only a difference of 8 votes (41 PC; 33 NDP; a few Liberal). Maybe not so lost a cause as I thought - but I think the NDP candidate would be shocked if he won!

That is a surprising number. However, a few polls can be heavily for one candidate for a variety of reasons.

[Melanie_]

Yikes! Its PC 291, NDP 237 as the board cycled through just now. Far closer than Hugh would like to see!

CTV has just declared an NDP majority.

[jdobbin]

Yikes! Its PC 291, NDP 237 as the board cycled through just now. Far closer than Hugh would like to see!

CTV has just declared an NDP majority.

CBC and Global have declared a victory as well.

[jdobbin]

Looks like the NDP have picked up a few Tory seats. The Liberals have held their own. It seems that in the last week, the credibility of their campaign was enough to get their MLAs re-elected. The Tories are probably going to be looking for a new leader. Again.

[Melanie_]

I wonder if Jon Gerrard will stay on as leader? I think he's done as well as he can, but the Liberals haven't been much of a force in Manitoba for some time. I think McFayden will stay on for the PCs; they need some rebuilding time, and he's young and energetic. (And he did eventually pull ahead and win my constituency, even though for a little while there it looked interesting.)

[jdobbin]

I wonder if Jon Gerrard will stay on as leader? I think he's done as well as he can, but the Liberals haven't been much of a force in Manitoba for some time. I think McFayden will stay on for the PCs; they need some rebuilding time, and he's young and energetic. (And he did eventually pull ahead and win my constituency, even though for a little while there it looked interesting.)

I think McFayden will be pressured to step down.

As for Gerrard, I expect he'll serve his term but that he will be looking at opening things up for a leadership race. Many critics said the Liberal platform was possibly the best offered but Gerrard lacked charisma. Doer was regarded as a sex symbol and as I predicted, he was able to win a massive majority.

Now that he has won, can he please tell me what has happened to my Crocus investment?

[fellowtraveller]

Does Doer have any plans to get the economy out of the tank, and somehow repatriate the tens of thousands of skilled workers, economic refugees who have fled in search of steady employment?

Or is intending to smile and gladhand his way through that , too?

Manitoba is looking like BC in the 90s, only worse.

[jdobbin]

Does Doer have any plans to get the economy out of the tank, and somehow repatriate the tens of thousands of skilled workers, economic refugees who have fled in search of steady employment?

Or is intending to smile and gladhand his way through that , too?

Manitoba is looking like BC in the 90s, only worse.

What tank are you referring to? I'm no fan of Doer but one of the reasons he won is because GDP growth in Manitoba is strong. Job creation has been anemic but overall economic performance this year has been good.

[madmax]

Does Doer have any plans to get the economy out of the tank, and somehow repatriate the tens of thousands of skilled workers, economic refugees who have fled in search of steady employment?

Or is intending to smile and gladhand his way through that , too?

Manitoba is looking like BC in the 90s, only worse.

Where do you live? And what on earth are you talking about?