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See information, reaction and views of Manitobans about the election in Kildonan - St. Paul »

Infrequently Asked Questions

Kildonan - St. Paul

"They're Canadians, they're cool, and it's a great riding."

Kevan Bowkett (Green Party)

What is a pressing issue unique to your riding, and what would you do about it?

"One of the difficulties is how can this be a prosperous riding in an economy with decreasing oil supplies," Bowkett said.

A lot of areas like the Kildonan-St. Paul riding have been built based on cheap oil, and are therefore affected by high energy costs, Bowkett said.

The solution, he says, is to "create proper signals to the marketplace, to consumers and investors, about what the real cost of things are." That "real cost" includes longer-term health, ecological and social costs, he said.

"Basically, the Green Party wants to create, sort of what you might call macro-constraints in the economy, which give us signals about the limits of the carrying capacity of the planet."

What do you like least about politics?

The same old messages.

"Sometimes there's sort of not enough time to adequately discuss significant issues, especially if they're unfamiliar issues," Bowkett said. "A lot of what there is time for during an election campaign is simply repetition of things that are common assumptions."

Who we vote for should be the outcome of a deeper discussion of political issues, Bowkett said.

"There isn't a lot of time to challenge assumptions and bring in different evidence and actually discuss things and articulate what kind of society do we actually want, which is really what we should be doing."

What is your riding's best-kept secret?

The people are "awesome," he said, something that was demonstrated for him when he was gathering signatures for his nomination papers.

"Even people who aren't Green supporters -- who were definitely supporters of other parties -- were interested in signing just to help create a level playing field in the election," he said.

"It's not a secret, but…they're Canadians, they're cool, and it's a great riding."

What is the best advice you've ever received?

"Different situations require different responses, and I often respond to things from an ideology, from a sort of fixed philosophy, almost that you could write down and diagram," he said. There's often an almost mechanical response to problems or situations."

So Bowkatt tries to follow advice he has picked up over the years from various readings in religion and philosophy.

"We need to listen and incorporate evidence and reflect. Listen to other people among other things. Not just respond mechanically from our formula."

What book could you not finish?

The Virginians: A Tale of the Last Century by William Makepeace Thackeray.

Bowkett said The Virginians was just too dreary.

"I like things that I read sometimes, or often, to have some kind of hope or element that's a positive message in addition to portraying how horrible the world often can be," he said.

"That was a bit lacking in The Virginians, but I'm not down on Thackeray because Vanity Fair and [The History of] Henry Esmond by him are fabulous."

What is your usual mode of transportation?

Getting around by foot or bus are Bowkett's most frequent modes of transportation.

"It's partly an ecological and health choice, and also that way I get to see lots of different parts of the city that I wouldn't otherwise," he said. "You have a little bit more time to observe and reflect on what's going on around you."

View Kevan Bowkett's Canada Votes Profile »

By Kim Kaschor, a student in the Creative Communications program at Red River College.

"We can, in fact, stop the large gap between what the elected do and what the people want."

Eduard Hiebert (Independent)

What is a pressing issue unique to your riding, and what would you do about it?

Hiebert said a pressing issues is that democracy in our current electoral process is limited by the single-mark ballot.

One of the solutions is in what he calls the "vote 123 preferential poll," a system he founded in which voters have the opportunity to decide on their two favourite candidates before the final poll.

"By them having their own preferential poll, it's a way for them to negotiate and collaborate with their neighbours as to who are the best two candidates," he said. "Then from that information, they can then vote very effectively and very positively with the maximum power of their single-mark ballot."

What do you like least about politics?

With the party system, there are no opportunities for people to affect the system in a real and effective way, Hiebert said.

However, he said that through the Vote 123 preferential poll method, "we can, in fact, stop the large gap between what the elected do and what the people want."

What is your riding's best-kept secret?

"There are 60,000-plus citizens over there that may have been unhappy with their MP, but they [would] have the power to take control of their democracy and take a very significant step toward self government -- very real and effective self government --through the Vote 123 preferential poll system," he said.

"The best kept secret is that they are really the first ones in Canada to be able to use this process for their own common advantage."

What is the best advice you've ever received?

Learn as much as you can.

"My parents lost everything before they came to Canada, and came with not much more than the shirts on their back, "he said. "They told me that while I was in school that I ought to study, and learn as much as I could, because that is the one thing they -- the powers who are against us -- cannot take away from you."

What book could you not finish?

Hiebert can't finish the daily newspapers, he said.

"I don't read a lot of the mainland presses. For example, I don't get a daily simply because there's a lot of chatter and it's the opposite of ... the advice my parents gave us," he said.

Because most dailies are owned by a handful of large corporations, Hiebert said, "they tend to give you information which keeps you busy, as opposed to informing you."

What is your usual mode of transportation?

"My own two legs is clearly the thing I use in all my modes of transportation. But then second to that, a car would be my second most frequently used mode of transportation," he said.

Hiebert said a bike is not a practical option for someone who lives in the country, as he does.

"Because we have such large distances, I also drive a car that is very efficient on fuel."

By Kim Kaschor, a student in the Creative Communications program at Red River College.

"I am very skeptical about politics."

Lesley Hughes

Hughes initially ran under the Liberal banner, but party leader Stéphane Dion asked her to resign in September after an old column she'd written surfaced in which she suggested Israeli companies were given a heads-up about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.

Since the Sept. 22 nomination deadline had passed when she was fired, Hughes' name will still appear on the ballot. She said Oct. 2 that if elected, she intends to sit in the House of Commons as an Independent.

Full story »

What is a pressing issue unique to your riding, and what would you do about it?

"I think that a key issue in this riding is personal security," Hughes said.

Safe neighbourhoods depend on a strong community commitment to prevention, she said.

"Prevention comes from the community. It comes from including people in prosperity. It comes from giving young people something to do that appeals to them. And it comes in communication through neighbourhood groups," she said.

"I would like to think I would be very strong on prevention through community activity and certainly through training, economic opportunities, and the engagement of young people."

What do you like least about politics?

The disconnect between politicians and ordinary people.

"Would you write in a big laugh there?" asked Hughes. "A big laugh. Because I am very skeptical about politics -- political process."

Hughes said the disconnect between ordinary people and politics is undermining democracy.

"There seems to be so many people in it who intend to exploit other people or call other people into their personal service. And I really have a problem with that."

What is your riding's best-kept secret?

Hughes said her ridings best kept secret just might be the number of "peaceniks" among its ranks.

"There is a huge contingency of people in the riding who have been working in the peace movement for years, but they do it very quietly. They do it through small organizations, they do it through donations, and they do it through conversations," she said.

"You know, for an old peacenik like me, it is so energizing to meet these people."

What is the best advice you've ever received?

One of Hughes' former students once told her that she lived to dance: to touch people through her dancing. She also said that being faithful to that talent was the hardest thing to do for a lot of different reasons.

"I thought about her a lot and I realized that I live to communicate with people: to touch people by communicating with them," she said. " I resolved -- and this had to be 20 years ago -- I resolved to be like her and be faithful to my talent."

What book could you not finish?

"There's been more than one Margaret Atwood novel that I couldn't finish. Can I leave it at that?" said Hughes.

"On the other hand, I could never put a Carol Shields novel down. Yes, more than one Margaret Atwood novel, and God strike me, I'm sorry."

What is your usual mode of transportation?

"My usual mode of transportation is a 2005 Suzuki sedan which gets enormous gas mileage and on which I have never spent a dime," said Hughes.

When it comes to the loves of her life, Hughes said her car comes second only to her computer.

"I cherish it deeply because it is just such a warrior: it's a warrior car! It never quits. It never quits. Thank God."

By Kim Kaschor, a student in the Creative Communications program at Red River College.

"It's fairly hard to change people's minds once they're set."

Jordan Loewen (Christian Heritage Party)

What is a pressing issue unique to your riding, and what would you do about it?

Loewen said that a lot of yards in his riding are not being kept up.

"It doesn't seem like people are caring much, and letting things fall to ruin," he said.

In response to this issue, Loewen said he would encourage people to get involved in neighbourhood projects like street cleaning.

What do you like least about politics?

Speaking about people in general, Loewen said the thing he dislikes most about politics is that "it's fairly hard to change people's minds once they're set."

What is your riding's best-kept secret?

Loewen said one of his ridings best kept secrets is all the small-scale enterprises in the area, such as the corner stores.

"Just family businesses: Tenderloin Meat and Sausage, flea markets -- just a bunch of neat little stores that aren't bigger-box office stores," he said.

What is the best advice you've ever received?

Over the years, Loewen has come to know when to choose his battles.

"I can't remember when I received that, but it was under the context that you can't fight every fight. And choose the ones that are most important."

What book could you not finish?

The Well at the World's End by William Morris.

"It was just too long and too hard to read," Loewen said.

What is your usual mode of transportation?

Loewen says he usually takes the bus.

"I have EcoPass at work, and it's just better for the environment," he said. Through the EcoPass program, employers offer their employees a discount of on transit passes.

"And gas prices are incredibly high," he added.

By Kim Kaschor, a student in the Creative Communications program at Red River College.

"I have friends from all parties -- from the Liberals, from the NDP, from the Green Party -- and you work together on issues."

Joy Smith, Conservative

What is a pressing issue unique to your riding, and what would you do about it?

The Chief Peguis Bridge, which crosses the Red River in north Winnipeg, is the biggest, and most complicated issue, since it involves all three levels of government.

"I work very collaboratively with the city and with the province on getting that extension. I think that extension is very important to my riding," said Smith.

What do you like least about politics?

"What I like least about politics is people are under the assumption that because someone is in another party, that automatically you don't like them because they're in a different party," Smith said.

"I have friends from all parties -- from the Liberals, from the NDP, from the Green Party -- and you work together on issues."

What is your riding's best-kept secret?

Smith, the incumbent in Kildonan-St. Paul, says her riding's best kept secret is its residents ability to come together and work toward a common goal.

"When I first was elected, people were telling me that the west side stays on the west side and they have their issues, and the east side stays on the east side and they have their issues, so I opened two offices," she said.

"I have found that both sides collaborate quite uniquely with one another."

What is the best advice you've ever received?

Smith says Prime Minister Stephen Harper advised her to "Listen to people and their concerns."

"When issues come to me, you know, people are often highly emotional. And during a campaign, they are even more emotional, because they're trying to get their point across," she said.

"You serve all constituents once you become an MP, so you need to build those bridges during your campaign."

What book could you not finish?

The Natashas: Inside the Global Sex Trade by Victor Malarek

Smith said she could not get through Malarek's book on prostitution because the subjet is too close to her heart.

"I didn't read it as thoroughly as I usually read books because I've worked on human trafficking for the better part of 10 years and it hit home because I've met those girls," she said.

What is your usual mode of transportation?

Smith's first reaction was to say car, "because I have to get places fast."

But on further consideration, she thinks she might actually spend more time on planes, travelling between Winnipeg and Ottawa.

"Plane and car are really close partners," she said. "But for relaxation, what I really like to do is I like to ride my bicycle."

View Joy Smiths' Canada Votes Profile »

By Kim Kaschor, a student in the Creative Communications program at Red River College.

Ross Eadie (NDP)

What is a pressing issue unique to your riding, and what would you do about it?

Energy costs.

While Eadie acknowledged the diversity of people and issues in his riding, he said that "the priority is energy."

Some of the new homes in East St. Paul reflect that: "There's some pretty energy efficient houses that they're building nowadays," he said.

"We need to take steps, but there's already existing tax on fossil fuels. We just need to redirect that into things that get people less dependent," he said.

"I think that will be a big issue for people in our riding: that somehow we can get more and more off our dependency of fossil fuels."

What do you like least about politics?

Corruption.

"When I'm knocking on doors, more and more people are just turned off," Eadie said.

"For me, that's scary, because I don't want to end up with an American system where people are jaded and 50 per cent -- if you're lucky -- vote for the President of the United States. Like, that's crazy."

What is your riding's best-kept secret?

Historical significance.

Eadie is a member of the Seven Oaks Historical Society and cites Kildonan-St. Paul as "a very historical area that goes back to the early 1800s.

"The Red River settlers came in here and this is where they lived. It's where Chief Peguis set up the first reservation for white men," he said.

"What you'll find all over Kildonan-St. Paul is a rich history of people moving to this country, working hard, growing families and just being prosperous."

What is the best advice you've ever received?

Stay positive.

People keep telling Eadie that he doesn't stand a chance going up against the incumbent in his riding, Joy Smith. So recently he talked to longtime NDP MP Bill Blaikie, who recently retired from politics, about the issue.

"I said to Bill: 'Bill, you were originally not supposed to win your first election … how'd you do it?' And he said, 'Well, what we did was we started to build hope amongst our membership.'"

Eadie said Blaikie told him to stay positive and "make sure the members know that you're out there, working hard."

What book could you not finish?

The Real Wealth of Nations by Riane Tennenhaus Eisler

Eadie, who is blind, said he doesn't have much trouble getting through the books he listens to for leisure, but if a book is not written or read well, it can be hard to follow.

In the case of The Real Wealth of Nations, "the concepts are great but … it's the way it's written," he said.

"When you listen to books, I mean, if it's not written well and then you don't have a reader who can compensate for that, it's difficult."

What is your usual mode of transportation?

Eadie said he mostly takes the bus or walks.

"I don't take the bus when I have to be somewhere fast and I have money [for a taxi]. Our family has a van, but I don't use it that much. We use it mostly for things like soccer or when we go camping," he said.

Eadie's commute to the office involves to buses, even though it's directly across the river from his home. He doesn't mind it, though.

"You get to meet people and talk to them," he said. "The bus service, there is room for improvement, but it's pretty good: it's not the worst thing you could encounter."

View Ross Eadie's Canada Votes Profile »

By Kim Kaschor, a student in the Creative Communications program at Red River College.