Winnipeg Free Press
Tuesday June 29 2004
BRANDON-SOURIS
Merv Tweed / Conservative
Tweed, 48, most recently was the Tory MLA for Turtle Mountain. He was elected to the legislature in 1995. Before that that he was a municipal councillor in the RM of Brenda, and owned and operated a car dealership in Killarney for 19 years. Tweed is married with three children.
DAUPHIN-SWAN RIVER
Inky Mark / Conservative
Mark, 56, was born in China but immigrated to Canada as a child, growing up in Gilbert Plains. A former teacher, he also owned several businesses including a real estate franchise, and was mayor of Dauphin between 1994 and 1997. Mark is married and has two sons.
KILDONAN-ST. PAUL
Joy Smith / Conservative
Smith, 57, is a former teacher from Fort Garry who was elected to the Manitoba legislature as a Progressive Conservative in 1999. She lost in the provincial election last spring. She was also one of the Manitoba campaign heads for Stockwell Day's first Canadian Alliance leadership bid. Smith is married with six children.
KILDONAN-ST. PAUL
Terry Duguid / Liberal
Duguid, 49, is a former Winnipeg city councillor from North Kildonan. He has a master's degree in environmental science and was instrumental in the positioning of Winnipeg to be named the centre of public health in Canada. Duguid is married and has two daughters.
PORTAGE LISGAR
Brian Pallister / Conservative
Pallister got an early 50th birthday present last night with his re-election in this riding. He celebrates his 50th birthday July 6. Pallister, a former insurance broker, was first elected to Parliament as a Canadian Alliance MP in 1997, following two and a half terms as Tory MLA in Manitoba. He is married and has two children.
WINNIPEG CENTRE
Pat Martin / NDP
Martin, 48, is a tradesman carpenter and former union vice-president. He was elected to Parliament in 1997, and has served as the NDP's critic for aboriginal affairs, northern development and natural resources and citizenship and immigration. Martin is married and has two children.
WINNIPEG NORTH
Judy Wasylycia-Leis / NDP
Wasylycia-Leis, 52, was an NDP MLA in Manitoba from 1986 to 1993, and was elected to Parliament in 1997. Prior to being elected in Manitoba, she worked for former NDP Premier Howard Pawley and was coordinator of the women's directorate of the government. She is married and has two sons.
WINNIPEG SOUTH
Reg Alcock / Liberal
Alcock, 56, was an information management consultant and director of Manitoba Child and Family Services before being elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1988. Alcock was elected in the federal riding of Winnipeg South in 1993, and was promoted to cabinet last December when Prime Minister Paul Martin took over the party leadership. He is currently president of the Treasury Board and minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board. Alcock is married with three children.
CHARLESWOOD-ST. JAMES
Steven Fletcher / Conservative
Fletcher, best known for battling back after a car accident left him paralysed, is the former provincial Conservative Party president. He also served two terms as University of Manitoba Student Union president. He is 31 and unmarried.
CHURCHILL
Bev Desjarlais / NDP
Desjarlais was a union activist and support staff worker in Thompson's general hospital before first winning the seat in 1997. She is the party's health and transportation critic. She is 48 and married with three grown sons.
ELMWOOD-TRANSCONA Bill Blaikie / NDP
Blaikie, 53, has represented Transcona since 1979 and has become one of the most-respected parliamentarians. Blaikie ran unsuccessfully for the NDP leadership last year. A United Church minister, he is married with four children.
PROVENCHER
Vic Toews / Conservative
Toews, 51, began his political career in provincial politics, running for the Conservatives and rising to become Manitoba's justice minister before the NDP sweep of 1999. He was first elected federally in Provencher in 2000 as a Canadian Alliance MP, becoming the party's justice critic. He is married with two children.
SAINT BONIFACE
Raymond Simard / Liberal
Simard, 46, was in the construction and real estate business before winning the seat in a 2002 by-election. He also helped found the Riel Economic Development Corporation and was active in promoting tourism in Winnipeg's francophone neighbourhoods. Simard is married with no children.
SELKIRK-INTERLAKE
James Bezan / Conservative
Bezan, 39, is a cattle rancher based in Teulon and has been an outspoken advocate for cattle producers during the BSE crisis. He has worked for the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association. Bezan is married with three young daughters.
WINNIPEG SOUTH CENTRE
Anita Neville / Liberal
Neville, 61, won the riding in the 2000 election. Before that, she served as a school trustee, worked for the provincial government and volunteered for numerous local groups, including Rossbrook House and Jewish Child and Family Services. She is divorced with three children.
Provincial By-Election
Tory wins battle of Turtle Mountain
Winnipeg Free Press
Wednesday June 30 2004
By Helen Fallding
VOTERS in southwestern Manitoba ended a 36-hour democracy marathon yesterday by electing a Conservative to the provincial legislature in a byelection held just a day after the federal election.
Glenboro insurance broker Cliff Cullen won the Turtle Mountain seat by a huge margin, following in the footsteps of Conservative MLA Merv Tweed, who was elected MP for Brandon-Souris Monday.
Cullen had won 3,632 votes by the time counting wrapped up at about 9:40 p.m.
Liberal Bev Leadbeater and NDP candidate Betty Storie -- a journalist and former teacher -- trailed far behind with 1,091 and 1,041 votes respectively.
Cullen said the state of agriculture is a big concern in the riding.
"The Tories have always been very supportive of rural issues and the rural economy." The region has been hard hit by the U.S. border closure to cattle because of an Alberta case of mad cow disease. Farmers in the region were also unable to plant many of their fields this spring because they were too wet and others got the crops in so late that their yields will probably be poor.
"It certainly has been a challenging spring," Cullen said.
The new MLA hopes to work with his caucus and the Doer government to see what can be done about the mad cow crisis.
The victor also attributed part of his success to getting party members out to vote -- there are about 1,500 Progressive Conservative members in the Turtle Mountain riding.
Leadbeater said some constituents voted for her because she is a farmer who has gone through the mad cow crisis on her own farm. "They should have had a contingency plan in place," she said of the NDP Doer government.
Support for the NDP dropped significantly compared to the general election last year. Voter turnout was also down, as is common in byelections.
helen.fallding@freepress.mb.ca
-- with files from Canadian Press