Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was in Winnipeg Saturday to throw his support behind the party’s candidate for the upcoming byelection for Elmwood-Transcona, a riding some say is anyone’s to win.
Singh, former MP Daniel Blaikie and provincial justice minister and Concordia MLA Matt Wiebe joined supporters in a small office space covered in signage for businesswoman and political newcomer Leila Dance, who was voted in as the NDP candidate to succeed Blaikie last week.
“Let’s show the people of Elmwood-Transcona we can re-elect another New Democrat, that we can get Leila Dance elected here,” Singh said to cheers from the crowd.
A date for the byelection has not yet been set. The federal Conservatives have yet to announce a candidate.
The riding has only had four MPs since its creation, and two have been from the Blaikie family. Daniel’s father, the late Bill Blaikie, was elected to Parliament for Winnipeg-Birds Hill in 1979.
He represented the riding for its entire history until it was dissolved in 1987, won four more elections when the riding was renamed Winnipeg-Transcona, and another two when it became Elmwood-Transcona.
Bill Blaikie resigned in 2008, Daniel was later elected in 2015 and remained the Elmwood-Transcona MP until he stepped down in March to work as an adviser to Premier Wab Kinew.
Dance, who is the executive director of Transcona BIZ, is part of that working-class background in the community — her father was heavily involved in union organizing, and Singh described her as someone who “knows what it is to have a good union job” — and said she’d work hard to fill Blaikie’s shoes.
“The part that is most important to me is continuing to fill those gaps, and the struggles that people are having, I understand,” she said. “I’m looking forward to being able to move that forward and help them.”
Singh said he expected there to be a fight for the riding, but believed the NDP’s history of serving the community would prevail.
“People are going to try, for sure they’re going to put their best foot forward, but we have a really strong candidate and we have a really clear message,” he said.
“We have fought for the people of Elmwood-Transcona and delivered.”
“We have fought for the people of Elmwood-Transcona and delivered.”–Jagmeet Singh
Only one Conservative has held the seat in the riding’s history — Lawrence Toet (2011-15) — but without the Blaikie name, and considering polling that shows Conservatives finding supporters nationwide, the seat isn’t a guarantee for the New Democrats, said adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba Christopher Adams.
“I think the Conservatives have a shot at this riding, so Jagmeet Singh coming into town is to help bolster the NDP’s fortunes locally, but also, I think the federal NDP, which is not doing so well in the national polls,” he said. “It’s good for the party to be in Elmwood-Transcona.”
Adams, who lives in the riding, also noted the demographics of Transcona have changed in recent years, especially through suburban sprawl.
“We have a lot of new Canadians who live in Transcona, who aren’t connected to that working-class history. It brings a vibrancy to Transcona, but… Transcona is very quickly changing from being a blue-collar, union-working class neighbourhood to (being) much more diversified,” he said.
“And so the Conservatives have an opportunity to pick up support where they wouldn’t have gotten that support 30 years ago.”
Adams said he expects to see Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre knocking on doors after the party’s candidate is decided.
He called the upcoming byelection “critically important” for the federal NDP.
“I wouldn’t be betting any which way in a selection as to which way it would go.”
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Malak Abas
Reporter
Malak Abas is a reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.
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