Ask Kevin Chief, the NDP candidate in the Nov. 29 Winnipeg North federal by-election, what he thinks the most important issue is. His answer: “Crime and security.” Then ask Kevin Lamoureux, the Liberal candidate. His answer: “Crime and security.” Two candidates, identical answers.
Last week, there were random murders in the riding. This week, a person was shot at home in Point Douglas, part of the riding. Winnipeg, alas, has the country’s
You’d think that with “crime and security” uppermost on voters’ minds, the supposedly “tough on crime” Harper Conservatives would be powerful in the riding. But Winnipeg North hasn’t elected a Conservative since
And what a morale boost that would be for a federal party whose strength west of Ontario is, shall we say, thin. Mr. Lamoureux has been a fixture in the Manitoba legislature for 18 years. His provincial riding overlaps with about 40 per cent of the federal riding, and he’s only lost one election since 1988.
If the Liberals were looking for a candidate with a proven track record of electoral success, something very hard to find among Liberals in Manitoba, they hit on the best candidate. His departure from provincial politics cut the Liberal caucus from two to one. Any Liberal who can survive Manitoba politics must be doing something right. Sensing the possibility of an upset, the party has poured in national figures: Michael Ignatieff (twice), Bob Rae (twice), Justin Trudeau and a bunch of other MPs.
Big shots from the federal caucus, however, don’t count for much in such a rough-and-tumble riding. It’s the local candidates, their records and their organization that count. And what they have to say about “crime and security,” a subject Mr. Lamoureux says he believes he’s been dealing with as the provincial party’s justice critic.
Against any other Liberal candidate, Winnipeg North would be an NDP cakewalk. The former MP, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, won three elections in a row, the last with
So the task of defending this NDP fief falls to Mr. Chief, who, like Mr. Lamoureux, is a formidable candidate, the kind New Democrats would love to have in Parliament.
At 36, he’s never been involved in partisan politics before, but he’s a central-casting kind of candidate. He grew up in a poor home, raised by a single father, but won an athletic scholarship to the University of Winnipeg. He was in charge of the university’s aboriginal outreach programs before entering politics. A Métis, he’s been involved in many community activities with young people, the police force and other organizations trying to help improve social and economic conditions in that part of Winnipeg – as Mr. Lamoureux has tried to do.
Just as the national Liberal Party has funnelled people and resources into the Winnipeg North campaign, so has the national NDP. A full-time organizer from Ottawa is managing the campaign, bringing with him the old door-to-door canvassing system the NDP used to run in all potentially winnable ridings. It would be embarrassing for the NDP to lose Winnipeg North. If Mr. Chief wins, the federal caucus would gain someone who might have a very bright long-term future.
While “crime and security” is the doorstep issue in Winnipeg North, ethnic politics is crucial. Aboriginals constitute about 20 per cent of the riding, but they traditionally don’t vote much. Whether they do, and for whom, might decide the outcome. There’s also a very large Filipino community, and smaller Sikh/South Asian ones. Both often support the Liberals, and galvanizing them might also turn the election.
