Jon Gerrard,
leader of the Liberal Party

Jon Gerrard has fought a lonely battle over the past three-and-a-half years, the sole Liberal voice in the legislature.

Without official party status, he could only ask a question with the permission of the other parties. His topic choices were sometimes considered offbeat, given his limited time allotment.

But as the lone Liberal, Gerrard, 55, has made himself as visible as possible in the run-up to his second election as party leader. At this point, he doesn’t have much to lose and everything to gain: some say, tongue in cheek, that given the disarray of the Progressive Conservatives, this election is really a race for second place.

Party support is sitting at 21 per cent in a pre-election Probe Research poll, 10 per cent behind the Tories. The Liberals haven’t really been a force in the province for decades, despite a blip under Sharon Carstairs in 1988 when they briefly became the official opposition before falling to seven seats.

Gerrard admits his first stab at provincial politics was marred by disorganization. The pediatrician and medical researcher became leader in 1998, a year after losing his one-term federal seat, a victim of rural Manitoba’s anger over federal policies such as the gun registry.

In 1999, the party couldn’t run a full slate of candidates, and their choice of issues to attack seemed out of step with what the public was talking about. Dr. Gerrard ran on a health reform policy that had been developed by his predecessor.

“It was my first campaign. We were scrambling, quite frankly, but we’ve put together a better organization,” Gerrard says. “We’re in much better financial shape this time.”

Health care will again be a key part of Gerrard’s platform, as will the province’s youth. The party’s new symbol has an adult and baby bison, hoping to make the point that it cares about the “young people.”

Gerrard worked hard during the last campaign to gain some name – and face – recognition with voters, but had to spend a lot of time door-knocking in his riding.

While Gerrard became the MLA for River Heights, he lost the three seats the party already held, including the Liberal stronghold of St. Boniface won by Finance Minister Greg Selinger.

The Liberal leader is most often described as “smart” and “nice.” He shakes your hand every time he greets you. As in the last election, he’ll no doubt be shaking as many hands as possible, hoping to convert a few voters.

“They’re very much a wild card,” Scott MacKay, of Probe Research, says of the Liberals. “Typically, when the Liberals are performing well electorally, it affects the New Democrats negatively.”

Gerrard won’t predict how the Liberals will do on election day, but he’s sure to put in a full effort.

“Go for the moon,” he says, “because if you miss it, you’ll be among the stars.”