
Manitoba premier suggests he won't call byelection until NDP better able to compete in conservative riding
Spruce Woods has been vacant since March 24, when former Progressive Conservative MLA Grant Jackson resigned his seat to run in the federal election. Kinew said he wants to give his party a better opportunity to be competitive in a constituency it has never won.
"I don't know if everyone in the province knows what I'm like, but there's no freebies with me," Kinew said Friday during a scrum with reporters at Canada Life Centre,.
"I want to put a serious effort forward in the Spruce Woods byelection. I'm speaking now as a leader of the Manitoba NDP. I want our team out there canvassing. I want our team out there contesting. I want us in the communities that have never put up an NDP sign before in southwestern Manitoba to talk to our canvassers and to hear our plan."
No party other than the PCs has won Spruce Woods since it was created in 2011. Former MLAs Jackson and Cliff Cullen won more than 60 per cent of the vote in the constituency in each of the four provincial elections held over the past 14 years.
For weeks, Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan has accused Kinew of dragging his feet on the byelection call, noting it's been 102 days since Jackson resigned and a byelection will require another 28 to 35 days.
Kinew called byelections more quickly to fill two Winnipeg seats where the NDP were competitive.
The 2024 Tuxedo byelection, which was won by the NDP's Carla Compton, was held 43 days after former MLA Heather Stefanson resigned, while the 2025 Transcona byelection, which Shannon Corbett won for the NDP, was held within 63 days of the death of NDP MLA Nello Altomare.
Khan said Friday Kinew is playing games, noting how Prime Minister Mark Carney wasted little time in calling a federal byelection in rural Alberta's Battle River-Crowfoot even though the Liberal Party of Canada has very little chance of winning in the extremely conservative riding.
"It's sad to see the premier equating democracy and the right of Manitobans and the people of Spruce Woods constituents — their rights to vote — with freebies," Khan said Friday outside the Manitoba Legislative Building.
"I don't know what he's talking about with freebies. There are no freebies in the legislature. All 57 seats are earned. All 57 seats represent their constituencies. People have a right to vote. The Premier is denying those people."
Kinew also claimed Spruce Woods is affected by the forest fires in northern Manitoba, noting some evacuees are living in Brandon-area hotels that are located in the constituency.
In Manitoba, byelections must be held within six months of a constituency becoming vacant. In order to ensure that happens, Kinew can not wait later than the third week of August to beat the September deadline for a byelection.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CTV News
41 minutes ago
- CTV News
Homelessness in Toronto has more than doubled since 2021, according to latest Street Needs Assessment
A new report says Toronto's homelessness crisis is growing, with Black and Indigenous people being overrepresented among those on the street.


Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
All criminal trials in four B.C. courts to be rescheduled during FIFA World Cup
The chief justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court says all criminal trials that were to take place in Vancouver, Abbotsford, Chilliwack and New Westminster during the FIFA World Cup next year will have to be rescheduled. Chief Justice Ron Skolrood says in a notice posted Monday that the tournament is expected to have 'very significant impacts' on court operations at the affected Supreme Court locations. The notice says neither jury nor judge-only criminal trials will take place at the four locations from June 12 to July 8, 2026, and that no civil jury trials will take place either. It says the number of non-jury civil trials may also have to be reduced in the lead up to the tournament. The notice cites the draw on police resources around the Lower Mainland, heavy traffic that will make it difficult for sheriffs to transport suspects, and a potential lack of hotel rooms for jurors and out-of-town witnesses. B.C. top court judge hears arguments in constitutional challenge of province's Mental Health Act Skolrood says the court is committed to having enough capacity for 'urgent matters,' but the service reductions during the tournament are 'unavoidable.' 'The full extent of the impacts is uncertain and will remain so for some time,' the notice says. 'We do know that the effects on the police and sheriff resources required to participate in or support the court's operations will be substantial, particularly in respect of criminal trials and jury trials.' In a statement, B.C. Conservatives Attorney General Critic Steve Kooner says the disruptions are due to 'poor planning involving policing shortages' and he calls for a review of all the cases impacted by the FIFA World Cup games. 'The public deserve to know how many criminals will walk free because the Premier (David Eby) failed to plan for the world's largest sporting event,' Kooner says in the statement.


CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
FIFA World Cup to delay B.C. criminal trials
Vancouver Watch Vancouver's hosting of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will push back operations at the B.C. Supreme Court.