Liberals poised to nominate former FMCC, Festival du Voyageur director in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital
The Liberal Party of Canada is poised to name the former director of the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre as the party's candidate in the Winnipeg riding of Saint Boniface-Saint Vital for the next federal election.
Ginette Lavack served as the director of the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre from 2017 until her resignation this week. She previously ran Festival du Voyageur.
Lavack was the only person to seek the party's nomination in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital before the nominations closed, riding association chair Theodore Mariash said Thursday.
The federal party has yet to make her candidacy official. A formal announcement is expected during Festival du Voyageur, which begins this weekend.
Approximately 12 per cent of the population in the riding listed French as its mother tongue during the 2016 subcensus, according to Statistics Canada. Approximately 22 per cent of the riding spoke French and identified ethnically as French in the same survey.
The riding is currently represented by Liberal MP Dan Vandal, who is not seeking re-election. A general election must be held in Canada this year and may take place as soon as this spring.
Since its formation in 1925, what is now called Saint Boniface-Saint Vital has only been represented by MPs from the Liberal Party and conservative parties. The Liberals have won 27 of 32 elections over the past century.
The Conservative Party of Canada has yet to select a candidate in the riding for the upcoming election. The party has not responded to queries about the timeline for its nominations.
The New Democratic Party has selected Thomas Linner, who served as a spokesperson for the Manitoba Health Coalition during the COVID-19 pandemic, as its candidate in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital.
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Toronto Sun
37 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
PM Carney says he has no plans to tackle 24 Sussex question during his mandate
Published Jun 14, 2025 • 4 minute read A 2023 file photo of 24 Sussex Dr., the official residence for prime ministers for more than a half-century. Photo by Tony Caldwell / POSTMEDIA OTTAWA — Almost a decade after 24 Sussex Drive was abandoned as the official residence of the Canadian prime minister, taxpayers are still shelling out tens of thousands of dollars a year to maintain the vacant property, and the new prime minister has signalled he's in no rush to deal with the crumbling building. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in May that it's up to the National Capital Commission to decide what to do with 24 Sussex. 'It's not a challenge for today, this month, this year and it's probably a challenge for this mandate,' Carney said in French, adding that multiple ideas on how to renew 24 Sussex have been put forward by former prime ministers. The home is a 35-room mansion that was built in 1896, and served as the prime minister's official residence starting in 1951. It has been a federal heritage site since 1986. But former prime minister Stephen Harper was the last leader to live at 24 Sussex. When Justin Trudeau took over as prime minister in November 2015, he and his family instead moved into Rideau Cottage, a home on the grounds of Rideau Hall. Carney and his family now also live at Rideau Cottage. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While the grounds of 24 Sussex were used during Trudeau's tenure for some social events, it was closed by the National Capital Commission in 2022 for 'health and safety reasons.' Those included an infestation of rats that was so severe they found rodent carcasses and excrement in the home's walls, attic and basement. The commission has since spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on maintaining the building. A document detailing expenses for 24 Sussex, obtained via information access law, shows that upkeep of the building cost taxpayers more than $680,000 between January 2018 and June 2023. Those costs included elevator maintenance, janitorial services, boiler maintenance, the removal of a bees' nest, pest control, roof repair and pool cleaning. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In 2022, the NCC spent just over $76,000 to repair a stone wall and steel fence after a tourist bus crashed into the gates of 24 Sussex. NCC spokesperson Valerie Dufour said the organization is unable to provide any up-to-date information on operations and maintenance costs for the building. She confirmed the NCC continues to pay to maintain the building. A separate document from 2023, obtained via an access to information request, shows the Trudeau government looked at three main options for the official residence. The first option would be to establish Rideau Cottage as the prime minister's permanent residence by investing in additional residential infrastructure, such as laundry and staff offices. The second option would be to build a new 'modern facility' at 24 Sussex with 'limited heritage elements,' which would accommodate both residential and official functions. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The third option would be to build an entirely new residence on NCC-owned land elsewhere in Ottawa. Dufour said the commission presented options on the future of the official residence to the government and is awaiting a decision. In a letter addressed to then-procurement minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Trudeau asked for a proposal on new options for the official residence to be drafted by January 2026. Trudeau said the proposal should include a plan to transfer all responsibility for the official residence, except for general maintenance, from the National Capital Commission to Public Services and Procurement Canada. Andrew MacDougall, who was director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper, said that while Carney is right to focus on more important files, Canada still needs to maintain 'symbols' of its nationhood — including 24 Sussex. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Imagine a U.S. president leaving the White House in a dilapidated state. They would never,' he said. 'And so why do we tolerate it?' MacDougall argued that Carney is already 'opening the taps and spending like there's no tomorrow' and he might as well take on a problem that too many prime ministers have ignored. Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the real problem is that the National Capital Commission is 'too good at wasting our money but bad at managing properties.' 'With debt interest charges blowing a $1 billion hole in the budget every week, Prime Minister Mark Carney must make it a priority to hold the NCC accountable to stop wasting so much money,' he said. 'Canadians also shouldn't be paying for an official residence for any opposition leader or Speaker, and the prime minister doesn't need multiple residences.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Katherine Spencer-Ross, president of Heritage Ottawa, said Carney's reluctance to tackle 24 Sussex is 'hardly surprising' given the amount of work on his plate. 'I'm not holding my breath,' she said. 'I think he's got another fish to fry.' Spencer-Ross said that while prime ministers have been afraid to do anything about 24 Sussex because of the political optics, the prime minister of the day is still the 'steward' of the building. 'It is not their home. It is not their party's home. It belongs to the people of Canada,' she said. Spencer-Ross said Heritage Ottawa wrote to Trudeau in 2018 to suggest setting up an external advisory committee to look at options for the residence. She said nothing happened with that idea until Trudeau included it in his letter to Duclos. She said her organization believes the building should be maintained, renewed and kept in public hands, even if it's no longer the official residence. Sunshine Girls Golf World World Sunshine Girls
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The end of a raucous legislature session
Opinion On June 2 at the end of the spring session of the Manitoba legislature, the two main parties issued duelling press releases, each claiming they were listening and responding to the needs and concerns of Manitobans. The NDP government boasted it had delivered 'a strong, ambitious legislative agenda' of 39 bills that would improve health care, remove interprovincial trade barriers, make groceries more affordable, enhance public safety, and act on many other matters. The Progressive Conservative (PC) opposition countered with the claim that several of the more important bills were based on ideas stolen from them. This credit claiming by the parties has become an annual ritual. Over the past five decades, the proceedings of the legislature have increasingly come to resemble a permanent election campaign in which the parties spend more time seeking to score political points against their opponent than using questions of the premier and ministers and debating bills for the constructive purpose of improving public policy. The just-finished session featured too much shouting and name calling across the aisle and several unfortunate episodes of disorderly conduct. It was not, however, the most raucous session that has happened in the modern era of Manitoba politics, which I date from the breakthrough victory of the NDP in 1969. For observers of my generation, it is impossible to forget the French language crisis of 1983-1984 during which then-PC leader Sterling Lyon and his MLAs ferociously fought a NDP government bill entrenching language rights by using prolonged bell-ringing which paralyzed the legislature and brought angry, screaming crowds into building. I recognize that partisan competition provides the motivation and energy which drives the institution. The clash between opposing philosophies and policy perspectives helps to define what actions are in the public interest. Criticism from the opposition is the main way that the government is made to answer and to be held accountable through the media to the electorate. It would be impossible, and wrong, to seek to drive disagreement, emotion and passion entirely out of the proceedings of the legislature. The legislature actually has two modes of operation: most often it is adversarial between the parties, occasionally it demonstrates the capacity for cross-party collaboration. Because media coverage focuses mainly on the partisan clashes in Question Period, many members of the public sees the legislative process as only games-playing by the parties. In my view partisanship has become excessive, unduly negative and personal in content. There is throughout the legislative process too much rude heckling, personal attacks, bullying, inflammatory rhetoric, defensiveness and feigned indignation. Women MLAs are targeted disproportionately. Two episodes in the past session illustrate the problem. On April 22, PC MLA Greg Nesbitt questioned the NDP government about a contract for mental health therapy, suggesting, without providing any evidence, that it may have been for the personal benefit of NDP Finance Minister Adrien Sala. Either this was a cheap ' gotcha' question or Nesbitt had failed to do his homework to learn that the contract was actually for mental health support to landfill searchers. It strained credulity for the PC interim leader Wayne Ewasko to claim that his MLA was simply seeking information. In the shouting match which ensued, the Speaker, Tom Lindsay lost his cool and threatened to toss Nesbitt from the chamber, a threat he apologized for the next day. He also expressed frustration with the lack of decorum and the refusal of MLAs to immediately obey his calls for the heckling to cease. There is only so much the Speaker can do under the rules to maintain civility and to curtail belligerent language. The deeper problem is the culture of the institution which is shaped by many factors, most importantly by the words and actions of the party leaders. This brings me to the second episode which happened in the committee of supply on May 21 when the spending estimates of the executive council (which includes the premier's office) were under review. Proceedings of the meeting can be found on a YouTube stream. Both Premier Wab Kinew and Opposition Leader Obby Khan were in attendance and the meeting turned ugly almost immediately with the two MLAs showing intense dislike and disrespect for one another. A backbench NDP MLA serving as committee chair was hard pressed to maintain order. During Khan's opening statement on economic indicators, he was constantly heckled by Kinew, who at one point described the opposition leader as 'a joke.' Khan responded by bringing up Kinew's encounters with the law as a young adult and described him as a 'toxic, bullying leader' (echoing allegations from a former NDP MLA banished from that caucus). Kinew fought back by accusing Khan of being part of the ethics scandal involving violations of the caretaker convention during the final days of the former Heather Stefanson government. Fostering a more respectful and constructive culture starts with the leaders who must model more responsible behaviour and encourage their MLAs to restrain their outbursts and personal attacks when emotions rise in the chamber and in the committees. Paul G. Thomas is professor emeritus of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba.
Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Carney says he has no plans to tackle 24 Sussex question during his mandate
Almost a decade after 24 Sussex Drive was abandoned as the official residence of the Canadian prime minister, taxpayers are still shelling out tens of thousands of dollars a year to maintain the vacant property, and the new prime minister has signalled he's in no rush to deal with the crumbling building. Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in May that it's up to the National Capital Commission to decide what to do with 24 Sussex. 'It's not a challenge for today, this month, this year and it's probably a challenge for this mandate,' Carney said in French, adding that multiple ideas on how to renew 24 Sussex have been put forward by former prime ministers. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The home is a 35-room mansion that was built in 1896, and served as the prime minister's official residence starting in 1951. It has been a federal heritage site since 1986. But former prime minister Stephen Harper was the last leader to live at 24 Sussex. When Justin Trudeau took over as prime minister in November 2015, he and his family instead moved into Rideau Cottage, a home on the grounds of Rideau Hall. Carney and his family now also live at Rideau Cottage. While the grounds of 24 Sussex were used during Trudeau's tenure for some social events, it was closed by the National Capital Commission in 2022 for 'health and safety reasons.' Those included an infestation of rats that was so severe they found rodent carcasses and excrement in the home's walls, attic and basement. The commission has since spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on maintaining the building. A document detailing expenses for 24 Sussex, obtained via information access law, shows that upkeep of the building cost taxpayers more than $680,000 between January 2018 and June 2023. Those costs included elevator maintenance, janitorial services, boiler maintenance, the removal of a bees' nest, pest control, roof repair and pool cleaning. In 2022, the NCC spent just over $76,000 to repair a stone wall and steel fence after a tourist bus crashed into the gates of 24 Sussex. NCC spokesperson Valerie Dufour said the organization is unable to provide any up-to-date information on operations and maintenance costs for the building. She confirmed the NCC continues to pay to maintain the building. A separate document from 2023, obtained via an access to information request, shows the Trudeau government looked at three main options for the official residence. The first option would be to establish Rideau Cottage as the prime minister's permanent residence by investing in additional residential infrastructure, such as laundry and staff offices. The second option would be to build a new 'modern facility' at 24 Sussex with 'limited heritage elements,' which would accommodate both residential and official functions. The third option would be to build an entirely new residence on NCC-owned land elsewhere in Ottawa. Dufour said the commission presented options on the future of the official residence to the government and is awaiting a decision. In a letter addressed to then-procurement minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Trudeau asked for a proposal on new options for the official residence to be drafted by January 2026. Trudeau said the proposal should include a plan to transfer all responsibility for the official residence, except for general maintenance, from the National Capital Commission to Public Services and Procurement Canada. Andrew MacDougall, who was director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper, said that while Carney is right to focus on more important files, Canada still needs to maintain 'symbols' of its nationhood — including 24 Sussex. 'Imagine a U.S. president leaving the White House in a dilapidated state. They would never,' he said. 'And so why do we tolerate it?' MacDougall argued that Carney is already 'opening the taps and spending like there's no tomorrow' and he might as well take on a problem that too many prime ministers have ignored. Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the real problem is that the National Capital Commission is 'too good at wasting our money but bad at managing properties.' 'With debt interest charges blowing a $1 billion hole in the budget every week, Prime Minister Mark Carney must make it a priority to hold the NCC accountable to stop wasting so much money,' he said. 'Canadians also shouldn't be paying for an official residence for any opposition leader or Speaker, and the prime minister doesn't need multiple residences.' Katherine Spencer-Ross, president of Heritage Ottawa, said Carney's reluctance to tackle 24 Sussex is 'hardly surprising' given the amount of work on his plate. 'I'm not holding my breath,' she said. 'I think he's got another fish to fry.' Spencer-Ross said that while prime ministers have been afraid to do anything about 24 Sussex because of the political optics, the prime minister of the day is still the 'steward' of the building. 'It is not their home. It is not their party's home. It belongs to the people of Canada,' she said. Spencer-Ross said Heritage Ottawa wrote to Trudeau in 2018 to suggest setting up an external advisory committee to look at options for the residence. She said nothing happened with that idea until Trudeau included it in his letter to Duclos. She said her organization believes the building should be maintained, renewed and kept in public hands, even if it's no longer the official residence. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
