Winnipeg Free Press
Saturday May 14 2005
By Dan Lett
HUGH McFadyen captured the Conservative Party nomination in Winnipeg South last night in a hotly contested battle that drew more than 500 Tories to the Winnipeg Convention Centre.
McFadyen left a job as senior political adviser to Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz to launch his bid to recapture a riding that has been a Liberal stronghold for more than 12 years.
"We have a big challenge ahead of us," McFadyen told delegates last night. "As bad a government as they (the Liberals) are, they seem to be tough to defeat in elections. So, we're going to need a massive effort to beat them."
Of the party supporters at the meeting, more than 400 were voting delegates. Organizers did not release the actual results of the voting.
The Tory race for Winnipeg South pitted McFadyen against Rod Bruinooge, who was soundly defeated in the 2004 general election. Bruinooge, a filmmaker and computer game developer, recently spearheaded the establishment of the Winnipeg International Film Festival. McFadyen left a $160,000-a-year job as senior political adviser to Katz to contest the nomination. His political resume includes several years as an adviser to former Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon.
The winner of the Tory nomination is facing a stiff challenge in Winnipeg South, which has been a Liberal stronghold for Treasury Board President Reg Alcock for more than 12 years.
Alcock first won the riding in 1993, and has not been threatened in three subsequent general elections.
Bruinooge tried to use his previous experience on the campaign trail, and the name recognition he received from several unique campaign gimmicks, to appeal to the throng of Tory delegates.
In addition to towing a giant campaign sign on a trailer behind his car, Bruinooge also placed a brief video commercial in Winnipeg movie houses weeks before an election was called.
Despite failing to woo Winnipeg South Tories, Bruinooge urged his supporters to get behind McFadyen's campaign. "Please come out and support Hugh. It's so important that he win this riding."
dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca