Latest news with #NewDemocrats
CBC
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Spruce Woods byelection set for Aug. 26
A date has been set for the byelection in Spruce Woods. The byelection in the southwestern Manitoba constituency will be held on Aug. 26, the government announced Friday evening. The news comes a day after the governing New Democrats nominated real estate agent Ray Berthelette to represent them in the longtime Progressive Conservative stronghold. The PCs' Grant Jackson resigned from the seat to run for federal office. Spruce Woods has been without an MLA in the legislature since March 24. Manitoba's Official Opposition previously accused the NDP of dragging its feet in calling the byelection, which under provincial law had to happen by Sept. 16. The election will be held 155 days after Jackson's resignation. Longtime Tory volunteer Colleen Robbins will be representing the party in the election, with teacher Stephen Reid running for the Liberals. Elections Manitoba said in a release advance voting will begin on Aug. 16. More information, including polling locations, can be found on its website.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba byelection called in traditional Progressive Conservative stronghold
WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called a byelection Friday that will test whether his NDP government's popularity can spread to a longtime Progressive Conservative stronghold. Voters in the Spruce Woods constituency will go to the polls Aug. 26 to choose a replacement for Grant Jackson, a Tory who resigned in March to run federally. Jackson garnered more than double the votes of his closest opponent in 2023, and the Tories normally get well above 60 per cent of the vote in the area. The New Democrats have been riding high in opinion polls, however, and have made a series of spending announcements in and around Spruce Woods in recent weeks. One political analyst said the byelection could be a race. 'I would say right now that I think the (Progressive) Conservatives probably still have a bit of the upper hand, given that history, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the NDP can win it,' Kelly Saunders, a political science professor at Brandon University, said in an interview. The outcome of the vote won't affect the NDP's majority in the legislature, where the party has 34 of the 57 seats to the Tories' 20. There is one Liberal and one Independent. But a win in Spruce Woods would give the NDP, whose seats are concentrated mainly in Winnipeg and the province's north, a breakthrough in the rural southwest corner of the province. The riding contains a part of Brandon, but most of its area consists of small towns and farmland. 'If (Kinew) can pull that off, then I think that would be a huge symbolic win for (the NDP) to show that in fact they are the government that can speak for everybody in this province,' said Saunders, who lives in Spruce Woods. Kinew announced spending on highways, housing, doctor training and other items in the lead-up to the byelection call. He told supporters in the area Thursday that the NDP is being more proactive than in past contests, when some areas of the constituency didn't have lawn signs. The Tories have also gone on the offensive. They have criticized Kinew for not calling the byelection earlier and have accused him of leaving the area without a voice. When Kinew pushed back against a reporter's questioning about the ongoing vacancy, the Tories turned it into social media fodder. The Tories have chosen Colleen Robbins, a longtime party volunteer for the race. The NDP have nominated Ray Berthelette, a former real estate agent who recently worked as an executive assistant to cabinet minister Glen Simard. The Liberals have selected Stephen Reid, a teacher in Brandon. The Tories have been in rebuilding mode since losing the 2023 provincial election. The NDP pulled off a major upset last year in winning a byelection in the Tuxedo seat in Winnipeg, which had always voted Progressive Conservative and had been the seat of two former Tory premiers. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025.
Vancouver Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
Electoral flashback: B.C. MLAs mull proportional representation despite voters saying no three times
VICTORIA — A B.C. legislature committee recently spent two weeks on a trip down memory lane, revisiting the debate over proportional representation that dominated three referendums over the past 20 years. The committee on democratic and electoral reform — four New Democrats, two Conservatives and one Green — was appointed to review a range of issues after the last provincial election. But in two weeks of public hearings earlier this month, most of the witnesses focused on the committee's specific mandate to examine 'models for electing members of the legislature, including proportional representation.' A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. 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 Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The switch to a form of proportional representation, or PR, was an option in a referendum during the 2009 provincial election and another in a ballot-by-mail in 2018. Both times voters endorsed the existing first-past-the-post system by a decisive 61 per cent. PR got 58 per cent support in a 2005 referendum but fell short of the 60 per cent threshold set by the then B.C. Liberal government. Yet it is back on the agenda this year at the behest of the Greens. The B.C. party could have won as many as eight seats under PR in the last provincial election as opposed to the two it did win under first-past-the-post. The prospect drew a scornful submission from Bill Tieleman, political consultant, one-time press secretary to NDP Premier Glen Clark, and a leader of the successful fight against PR in the earlier referendums. 'The public has clearly spoken,' said Tieleman. 'Yet here we are again. I regret that the provincial legislature is once more examining an issue that B.C. voters have democratically, decisively, and not once but twice strongly rejected. 'The reason is clear. The B.C. Green party insisted on this committee examining proportional representation as a condition for supporting the B.C. NDP government. I get it. It's political reality. 'But this committee should not be examining electoral systems for the fourth time. It's kind of ridiculous after 20 years, when B.C. voters have heard all the arguments and voted against proportional representation with what should be finality.' Tieleman offered a shorthand take on why voters prefer the status quo to PR. 'The reason why voters strongly supported our current first-past-the-post system is that it is simple, stable and successful,' he argued. 'By comparison, proportional representation is complicated and confusing, and it removes local, accountable elected officials. It is a foreign voting system that has chronic problems where it's used.' Most of those who made submissions — electoral reform advocates, university professors, Green party members and others — disagreed. Many of their arguments for proportional representation were similar to ones mounted in the past two referendums. But I was struck by how some PR advocates have turned against the whole idea of referendums after losing two in a row. Leading the way on that score was the first speaker in the lineup, Adriane Carr, a former Vancouver city councillor and a former leader of the Greens. Referendums are too time consuming, she argued. 'Timeliness is important, so no referendum beforehand,' she argued. Rather, Carr says the government should impose proportional representation by a vote of the legislature before the next election. Then, after a term or two of governments elected under PR, it would submit the system to referendum after the fact. Fair Voting B.C. went further, declaring that 'voting reform is a civil rights issue, and referendums are not an appropriate way to settle such questions.' Rejecting the notion of bypassing referendums was Bob Plecas, a Tieleman ally in the fight against PR and a deputy minister under former Social Credit and NDP governments. 'The legislature should not unilaterally end this relationship with the voters who today directly elect their MLA, especially after 61 per cent of them have just recently rejected the idea of pro rep,' said Plecas. 'If it proceeds, it would be essential to go to a referendum including a supermajority in both vote and constituency.' The committee wrapped up hearings last week and closed the door on written submissions Friday. The members will then get to work crafting recommendations to the legislature. Their final report is due Nov. 26. If the MLAs felt bound by the majority of submissions on electoral reform, they would recommend a shift to proportional representation. But I doubt that will happen. Since dodging the PR bullet in 2018, the B.C. NDP has won back-to-back majorities under first-past-the-post. The party's provincial director, Tania Jarzabek, did propose some electoral reforms in a submission to the committee. Pointedly, she did not take a stand on PR, one way or the other. Nor can I see the Conservatives supporting an electoral system that could empower further splits in their already fractious caucus. Besides, just this past week, Research Co. reported an opinion poll on electoral reform. While respondents showed some interest in other systems for electing governments, 65 per cent said they were satisfied with the existing first-past-the-post system. I expect committee members, apart from the one Green MLA, will reach a similar conclusion in favour of the status quo and avoid a call for proportional representation, with or without a referendum. vpalmer@
CBC
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
NDP's rules for leadership race include requirements for youth, regional support
The NDP released the official rules for its leadership race on Friday, which include requirements that candidates gather specific numbers of signatures from supporters across regional, racial and 2SLGBTQ+ groups. At least 10 per cent of a candidate's signatures must come from New Democrats aged 25 years or under. Candidates must also collect at least 50 signatures from five different regions in Canada — the North, the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario and the Prairies and B.C. A new permanent leader to replace Jagmeet Singh will be chosen through a ranked ballot, allowing party members to list candidates in order of preference. The party announced earlier this month that candidates will be required to pay a $100,000 entry fee.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
NDP releases official rules for leadership race to replace Singh
OTTAWA – The NDP has released the official rules for its leadership race, which include requirements that candidates gather specific numbers of signatures from supporters in diverse regional, racial and LGBTQ+ groups. At least 10 per cent of a candidate's signatures must come from young New Democrats aged 25 years or under. Candidates must also collect at least 50 signatures from each of five different regions in Canada — the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and B.C. and the North. A new permanent leader to replace Jagmeet Singh will be chosen through a ranked ballot vote, allowing party members to rank candidates in order of preference. The party announced earlier this month that candidates will be required to pay a $100,000 entry fee. The official campaign kicks off in September and the final vote will be in March, when the party holds its convention in Winnipeg. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025.
