Parties getting set as election looms
Winnipeg Free Press
Thursday April 28 2005
By Mary Agnes Welch
MAYOR Sam Katz's top political operative resigned yesterday to run against Treasury Board President Reg Alcock in the looming federal election, one of two high-profile Tory candidates hoping to unseat a Liberal.
Hugh McFadyen, a longtime party organizer and one-time senior aide to former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon, said he's always planned to run someday.
"It's time to step out of the backrooms and put my name on the ballot," said McFadyen, 37. "It's exciting and daunting at the same time."
The Tories are rolling out their big guns in a bid to topple some of the city's three entrenched Liberal MPs. That's in contrast to last June's election when a roster of relative unknowns challenged MPs Anita Neville, Alcock and Raymond Simard in Winnipeg's south side.
A federal election could be held at the end of June if the Tories seize their earliest opportunity to bring down Prime Minister Paul Martin's beleaguered minority government.
Also running for the Conservatives is Michael Richards, another prominent party activist who will challenge Neville in Winnipeg South Centre. "The record of this government compelled me to run," said Richards, a partner in the law firm D'Arcy and Deacon. "It's tired and arrogant and corrupt."
Richards is a party strategist and was the head of Manitoba's "Yes" campaign during the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives.
McFadyen ran Katz's mayoral campaign and then left a job with the firm Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson to become Katz's $160,000-per-year director of strategic initiatives.
Both Richards and McFadyen must first survive contested nomination votes, both slated for the second week in May. In Winnipeg South Centre, Shaun McCaffrey is expected to challenge Richards. In Winnipeg South, Rod Bruinooge is also seeking the nomination. Bruinooge ran a solid campaign against Alcock last year, and won about 35 per cent of
the vote.
In the city's remaining Liberal riding of St. Boniface, there does not appear to be a star candidate in the wings to challenge MP Raymond Simard. Ken Cooper, who ran for the Tories last year, is expected to seek his party's nomination again. Another two candidates may come forward before the May 16 nomination meeting.
Manitoba's three major political parties are at various stages of election readiness.
The Conservatives have been quickest out of the gate with a plan to have all their candidates nation-wide nominated by May 16. All incumbent Tory MPs are automatically acclaimed, and five other Manitoba ridings have scheduled nominations in early to mid- May.
The Liberals, as well, have grandfathered the nominations of all incumbents. Simard and Neville will hold nomination meetings this week anyway.
The NDP is also quite active. All three sitting MPs from Winnipeg -- Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre), Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North) and Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona) will be nominated by the end of this week.
Wayne Copeland, provincial secretary for the NDP, said three additional ridings -- Kildonan-St. Paul, St. Boniface and Brandon-Souris -- will hold nomination meetings in the first week of May. Churchill riding, held by NDP MP Bev Desjarlais, will be canvassing party members as part of a nomination process, which should be completed by the May 16 deadline.
All remaining NDP riding associations have convened candidate search committees expect to hold nomination meetings before the end of the week.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
-- with files from Dan Lett