If you had asked me at a bar in the last few years, "which Canadian politician not in power do I have my eye on these days?" — my answer would have been Wab Kinew.
"If Manitobans put their trust in Wab Kinew, this will be a fascinating story to see."
Manitobans voted for a change of government with the NDP winning 33 seats in the 57-seat legislature in the provincial capital of Winnipeg.
The NDP campaigned on health care, something the Progressive Conservatives were cutting even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Heather Stefanson had been the unelected premier since 2021, taking over from Brian Pallister. The Progressive Conservatives had been in charge since 2016. The party won 23 seats.
Manitoba was the last Canadian province to have a post COVID-19 election since Pallister called an early election in 2019.
it’s provincial election time! that wonderful time when parties compete for our votes by articulating their best ideas and vision for better future
— Melissa Martin (@DoubleEmMartin) September 27, 2023
Manitoba PCs: “we will definitely make sure two Indigenous murder victims remain in the dump” pic.twitter.com/z9EmIQ15s9
You could definitely argue that the NDP ran a great campaign and agree that the PCs ran a poor campaign. Stefanson was rarely seen after the televised debate, delivered the costs to the platform on the day before the provincial election, and ran mean-spirited billboards against searching for Indigenous remains in a landfill.
Stefanson will leave as PC party leader. She had a tough time keeping her seat in the Tuxedo riding. Stefanson did have some nice words for a transition and recognized the "historic nature" of Kinew's win as the first elected First Nations premier in a province. "Wab, I hope that your win tonight inspires a future generation of Indigenous youth to get involved in our democratic process — not just here in Manitoba but right across the country."
The Liberals went from 3 seats to 1 seat in the election last night. Dougal Lamont, who lost his St. Boniface riding, stepped down as the Liberal Party leader. Cindy Lamoureux held on to her Tyndall Park seat, sitting as the only Liberal in the Manitoba legislature.
Fun fact: before he went into politics, Wab Kinew was a reporter for the CBC. Here he is on 2011 Manitoba election night - reporting from PC HQ. pic.twitter.com/Xuapu2CqH9
— election-atlas.ca (@electionatlasCA) October 4, 2023
Wab Kinew worked for CBC Radio and Television in Winnipeg. He has been a hip-hop artist. Kinew has old allegations and stayed charges. Kinew's story is complex for a politician.
Factor in that Kinew ran in the Fort Rouge riding in 2016 and ran into past tweets and social media comments that were problematic. Kinew got elected in 2016. Ran for the party leadership and won in 2017. The NDP kept him on as party leader despite the election loss in 2019.
Canadian politics doesn't normally work this way. Kinew is a very different politician. There is a notable significance to being the first First Nations person and second Indigenous person overall to be elected a provincial premier in Canada. Manitoba has a lot of challenges ahead. The NDP has very full hands. We are very curious how this will go.
2023 Manitoba election preview
Heather Stefanson will be Manitoba's first female premier
CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage
The 2023 Manitoba election drew a 60% turnout, 5 percentage points better than in 2019. 423,035 (unofficially) votes were cast, over 200,000 of them before Election Day.
Winnipeg is dominant because the city has 32 of the 57 ridings. The NDP traditionally does well up north while the PCs usually do well in the rural ridings in the south.
So I’m watching CBC’s coverage of the Manitoba election. This young PC supporter said: 1) parents’ rights because his gf is a teacher who supports “parents’ rights” annnd 2) women need to research the effects of birth control??? pic.twitter.com/lbjGBqaUS1
— PattywritesTO | @pattyinhd on bluesky (@PattyInHD) October 4, 2023
The CBC Winnipeg coverage was inside the capital building in Manitoba in Winnipeg. As impressive as that might seem. CBC News had a citizenship cafe with supporters of the 3 major parties. The yes and no segments were rather lame. The live interviews were great.
The couple they talked to late in the coverage (she was NDP, he was PC) were wonderful. She got truly emotional about Kinew's speech. He was glad for change and supportive of his partner.
Other PC supporters thought their leader ran a poor campaign.
The moment with the young PC supporter was very live and bizarre. "Parents rights" isn't the reason the PCs lost last night but the defeat was significant for that cause. They claim to want to support the children by hurting some of those children and the people who love them
That moment was uncomfortable to watch but necessary sometimes to try and figure out the mindset.
2023 Canadian politics preview
CanadianCrossing.com Manitoba coverage
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage
Canada is down to one female premier: Danielle Smith in Alberta. Smith and Stefanson came into 2023 as unelected premiers. Rachel Notley is the only female opposition leader with Stefanson resigning as party leader. The 2021 PC leadership race was down to 2 women.
Kinew is not the first Indigenous premier in a Canadian province. Peter Lougheed was premier of Alberta from 1971-1985 and was of Metis heritage. First Nations is generally a term used to describe Indigenous people of Canada who are ethnically neither Métis nor Inuit. The Inuit refers to those in the North who used to be known by the e-word we don't use. Hope we explained that well.
photo credit: CBC News
Twitter captures: @DoubleEmMartin; @electionatlasCA; @PattyInHD
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