Steve Ashton announced Friday that he is a candidate for the leadership of the Manitoba New Democratic Party. (Legislative Assembly of Manitoba)

Steve Ashton has officially stepped into the leadership race for the Manitoba NDP.

The minister in charge of intergovernmental affairs and emergency measures made the announcement Friday at the Union Centre on Broadway Avenue.

The longest-serving member of the NDP caucus, who was first elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1981, said he has the qualities needed to be the next leader.

"Experience is part of it," he said. "Certainly, my background as an economist would be useful [because] I think economic issues are certainly front and centre with what Manitobans are looking at right now."

Ashton was the one who co-ordinated much of the flood response during the spring flooding, which he said demonstrated his ability to bring people together with a common purpose.

He and Andrew Swan, who declared his candidacy on Wednesday, are the only two leadership candidates so far.

A party leadership convention has been set for Oct. 16-17, with the new leader to be named on the final day.

Should he win, Ashton said one of his priorities will be to capitalize on Manitoba's ethnic diversity. About 100 different languages are spoken in the province and that's a strong advantage in government and business, he said.

"Every aspect of what we do in government will reflect the diversity of this province. That will be job Number 1 — to make sure we see ethnic, cultural, aboriginal, gender and all of the diversity represented in all of our power structures, in everything we do," he said.

Gary Doer, who has been the provincial NDP leader since 1988 and the premier of Manitoba since 1999, surprised many political observers by announcing Aug. 27 that he was stepping down. The following day he was introduced in Ottawa by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Canada's next ambassador to the United States.