Liberal appeals to Winnipeg's 'progressive' voters
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 7, 2005 | 12:13 PM ET
CBC News
The riding was the tightest race in Manitoba in the 2004 election, when Conservative Joy Smith edged Liberal Terry Duguid by just 278 votes.
- CBC CANADA VOTES 2006: More on Kildonan-St. Paul
The Jan. 23 election pits Duguid against Smith again, and this time the challenger is marketing himself as not just a Liberal, but as the candidate who has the best chance of winning by capturing voters who have cast ballots for the NDP or Green party in the past.
"We think people in this area have a very, very clear choice: do they want a progressive candidate, or do they want a conservative candidate?" Duguid said.
The strategy is advocated by the Canadian Auto Workers union, which recommended last week that if the NDP has no reasonable chance of winning a riding, people should vote Liberal to prevent a Conservative win.
- FROM DEC. 4, 2005: CAW wants NDP to hold balance of power
But Smith says voters won't buy it. "When they see a prime minister put his arm around [CAW president] Buzz Hargrove and make another deal, I think the Canadian people are sick of deals," she said.
"I don't think it's going to happen here. I think the NDP will vote NDP."
The NDP candidate in the riding is also skeptical. Evelyn Myskiw says she cannot imagine New Democrats voting Liberal, given the sponsorship scandal and the spending spree by government just before the election call.
"I can't see how any Liberal can cast another Liberal vote this time round," she said. "This to me is not the way to go. I think you have to give the NDP a chance. I think you have to give the NDP credit for what has happened so far, and I think you have to give them credit for standing up for the working person."
The Green party candidate in Kildonan-St. Paul is Colleen Zobel.
