“I think we’re ready to call to call it.”
Shannon Martin is standing by the podium and has just won the byelection in the Morris riding of Manitoba. About 20 people are standing in the hall at Kingswood Golf & Country Club waiting for him to begin speaking. The room is decorated with a couple Tory-blue silks linens over cocktail tables and a couple bouqets of balloons.
The byelection was on a cold January evening. Icy roads and frigid temperatures contributed to low voter turnout. The conditions also landed me in the ditch.
On my way to La Salle I took a moment to pull over on the shoulder and look at my map. As it turns out the shoulder was just packed, flat snow. And I was stuck. Luckily a nice man with a nice big truck stopped to pull me out.
It was my first time being towed out. It was also my first time going to a post-election shindig.
And I made it in time to watch as the results rolled in from Elections Manitoba.
The final counts:
Shannon Martin (Conservative): 2642
Dean Harder (NDP): 488
Jeremy Barber (Liberal): 422
Ray Shaw (Independent): 138
Alain Landry (Green Party): 85
As Conservative Martin won in Morris Conservative Doyle Piwniuk won in the Arthur-Virden riding. Tories won in both ridings last election too- Mavis Taillieu in Morris and Larry Maguire in Arthur-Virden.
The win doesn’t shift any power in the Manitoba Legislature. The NDP still lead with 37 seats, the Conservatives trail with 19 seats now, and the Liberals hold one.
The people of Morris and Arthur-Virden now have a representative in the Legislature after almost a year of waiting. The NDP leaders in Manitoba put the election off almost as long as they legally could. Tories say the NDP was stalling. NDP say they were trying to save money.
Whatever the reason for the delay, it’s over now and the Legislature now has a full house.
Sara Shyiak: Flight Risk 