Advertisement

Learn more about Free Press Advertising solutions

Vote Manitoba 2023

Provincial Election

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cindy Lamoureux, interim Manitoba Liberal leader, takes her oath of office in the Manitoba Legislative library with Rick Yarish deputy clerk of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, Friday.

Lone Liberal MLA Lamoureux looks to replay party’s greatest hits

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 20, 2023

Related

The only provincial Liberal MLA west of Toronto took her oath of office Friday in a small ceremony at the Manitoba legislative library.

Tyndall Park MLA Cindy Lamoureux won a third term in the Oct. 3 election, the only Manitoba Liberal to retain their seat. The provincial party’s newly appointed interim leader is undaunted about being its lone voice in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” said Lamoureux, recalling the 1980s, when the Liberals went from having just one MLA elected to forming the official Opposition. “We built up.”

In a speech before taking the oath, she thanked her family, a group of constituents, volunteers and party faithful, including former River Heights MLA Jon Gerrard and Dougald Lamont, who resigned as leader after losing his St. Boniface seat to NDP candidate Robert Loiselle.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Weather

Apr. 23, 12 PM: 3°c Partly cloudy with wind Apr. 23, 6 PM: 6°c Windy

Winnipeg MB

4°C, Windy

Full Forecast
 

Talking shop on new cabinet

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Talking shop on new cabinet

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023

Manitoba marked many firsts as Premier Wab Kinew revealed the 14 members of his inner circle during a swearing-in event steeped in Indigenous culture and ceremony Wednesday.

Here’s what local leaders had to say about the historic event:

Manitoba Métis Federation

MMF president David Chartrand called it “a good day in Manitoba,” citing the diverse make-up of Manitoba’s freshly minted cabinet, which includes two Métis women (Bernadette Smith and Renée Cable).

Read
Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, left, and his cabinet. (John Woods / The Canadian Press)
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, left, and his cabinet. (John Woods / The Canadian Press)

Election Spotlight

Winnipeg Free Press:

Meet your candidate: We invited would-be MLAs to introduce themselves to you

Meet your candidate: We invited would-be MLAs to introduce themselves to you.

Paul G. Thomas:

A primer on choosing a voting model

John Woods / Canadian Press Files An alternative vote model for elections would be the least drastic change from the current first-past-the-post system.

Editorial:

Vote, don’t complain

John Woods / Canadian Press Files Feel strongly about who takes control of the legislature in October? There’s a sure way to have your say — vote.

Free Press staff:

Who, what, where, when and how to vote in Manitoba's provincial election

Winnipeg is normally where provincial elections are won and lost in Manitoba. (John Woods / The Canadian Press files)

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press:

Seats to watch in the Manitoba election

The flag of Manitoba flies on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

John R. Wiens:

Campaign etiquette for voters

(Kindel Media / Pexels)
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew wore a traditional war bonnet during the ceremony. It was given to him by Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Chief Jennifer Bone and Canupawakpa Dakota Chief Lola Thunderchild.

‘Today is a new day in our province’

Kinew becomes premier in historic Indigenous-influenced Manitoba cabinet swearing-in ceremony

Carol Sanders and Danielle Da Silva 7 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023

Polling station staff contradict Elections Manitoba claim they were adequately trained

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Preview

Polling station staff contradict Elections Manitoba claim they were adequately trained

Chris Kitching 5 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023

Three Elections Manitoba workers have told the Free Press they did not feel sufficiently trained before ballots were cast in the provincial election, disputing a claim by the head of the independent agency.

The temporary workers, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, disagreed with chief electoral officer Shipra Verma’s comment that staff were given enough training for their roles and to operate new technology, including laptop computers used to cross names off the voting list.

“In all the elections I’ve worked, this was the most disorganized and I felt so poorly trained,” said a woman who worked at a polling station in Winnipeg. “It doesn’t lead to any confidence in what you’re doing.”

In Saturday’s Free Press, Verma defended her agency after the Oct. 3 election suffered some technical problems during advance polling and on voting day.

Read
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Three Elections Manitoba workers say they did not feel sufficiently trained before ballots were cast in the recent provincial election.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Three Elections Manitoba workers say they did not feel sufficiently trained before ballots were cast in the recent provincial election.

NDP unlikely to hand Tory-traumatized public-sector unions a blank cheque

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

NDP unlikely to hand Tory-traumatized public-sector unions a blank cheque

Dan Lett 5 minute read Monday, Oct. 16, 2023

Now entering its eighth week, you can certainly forgive 1,700 striking MPI employees for thinking their salvation will be found in the arrival of a new NDP government.

Read
Monday, Oct. 16, 2023

Will Kinew simply give in to union demands or will he try to find room between the last two positions outlined at the bargaining table and bring the disputes to an end? (Abiola Odutola / The Brandon Sun files)
Will Kinew simply give in to union demands or will he try to find room between the last two positions outlined at the bargaining table and bring the disputes to an end? (Abiola Odutola / The Brandon Sun files)

Elections Manitoba boss defends agency’s performance despite issues with new technology, human errors

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

Elections Manitoba boss defends agency’s performance despite issues with new technology, human errors

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

The head of Elections Manitoba defended the independent agency Friday after the Oct. 3 provincial election suffered technical problems and human errors that led to wide discrepancies between some unofficial and official results.

Chief electoral officer Shipra Verma ended her silence as official results were released 10 days after Manitobans elected a majority NDP government.

“I can confidently say the election results are complete and accurate,” she told the Free Press. “The election was conducted in a free and fair manner.”

Verma acknowledged there is room for improvement, after Manitoba’s first general election with electronic vote-counting machines, or tabulators, didn’t go as smoothly as hoped.

Read
Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press Files

Shipra Verma, Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Manitoba.
Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press Files Shipra Verma, Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Manitoba.

Election results now official

Free Press staff 2 minute read Preview

Election results now official

Free Press staff 2 minute read Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

The results of Manitoba’s 43rd general election are now official, Elections Manitoba said.

The result of the Oct. 3 election were finalized Friday.

The NDP won 34 seats in Manitoba’s legislative assembly, while the Progressive Conservatives won 22 and the Liberals one.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew’s cabinet will be sworn in on Wednesday, it was announced Friday.

Read
Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Elections Manitoba said 488,979 ballots were cast out of 884,853 registered voters.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Elections Manitoba said 488,979 ballots were cast out of 884,853 registered voters.

Rookie MLAs headed back to school for four-day crash course in… everything

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Rookie MLAs headed back to school for four-day crash course in… everything

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

A boot camp for beginners gets under way next week when “New MLA School” is in session.

Before the legislative session begins in the coming weeks, a four-day comprehensive training program for 26 new members of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly by a dozen branches of the legislative assembly will scratch the surface of what they need to know and where to find it.

“It’s this very fast orientation and then we start the immersive experience of being an MLA,” recalls Lisa Naylor, who was a student in the 2019 crash course after being elected in Wolseley for the New Democrats.

“We’re trying to introduce them to the kind of information they need to know, emphasizing all along the way that, ‘The people you’re going to meet will be available to you on an ongoing basis the whole time you’re an MLA,’” a spokesperson for the clerk of the assembly said.

Read
Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Jennifer Chen the new NDP MLA-elect for the Fort Richmond riding, and her daughter, Sophia.
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jennifer Chen the new NDP MLA-elect for the Fort Richmond riding, and her daughter, Sophia.

LOAD MORE