Large number of parachute candidates a bad sign

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/04/2016 (3846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Welcome to the year of the parachute.

The parachute candidate, that is. CBC Manitoba reported Monday that 47 per cent of candidates offering in the upcoming provincial election live outside the constituency in which they are running.

The CBC compared home addresses that were available for 199 candidates (out of a total of 223 who are running — some home addresses were unavailable) and found that 93 lived outside their chosen constituency.

For the NDP, almost 63 per cent of candidates live outside the constituency in which they are running. For the Liberals, that figure is 44 per cent and for the Progressive Conservatives 26 per cent, according to the CBC’s analysis.

That means all of the established parties struggled to field a full slate of candidates who live in the constituencies they seek to represent.

The Progressive Conservatives appear to have struggled the least; for the NDP and the Liberals, the parachute candidate is practically the norm this time around.

The Manitoba and Green parties were not spared, with parachute candidates making up roughly a third of total candidates in each case.

In Brandon West, the Liberals are running a candidate who lives in Portage la Prairie. The NDP and the Progressive Conservatives are offering Brandon East and Brandon West candidates who live in the constituencies.

The parachute candidate is nothing new. Politicians sometimes seek to run, for example, in byelections in constituencies in which they do not reside while awaiting the opportunity to run in their home constituency during a general election. It is not uncommon for new party leaders to use this tactic to gain a seat in a legislature between elections. Used sparingly, the idea of the parachute candidate does no harm to democracy.

That said, having almost half the candidates in a general election residing outside the constituency in which they are running is not a positive sign. This is not a one-off wherein a local candidate steps aside to provide a safe seat for a party leader in a byelection — this is a theme that underlies the entire campaign.

Why in this election? Have Manitobans become so jaded in their attitudes toward politics that a disproportionately large number of potential candidates just said “no thanks” in 2016, forcing parties to find loyalists to carry the banner in constituencies other than their own?

It is tempting to think so.

The New Democrats and Liberals faced particularly large hurdles recruiting candidates. The NDP saw former MLA after former MLA, including many cabinet ministers, decline to re-offer. Some may have wished for a break from the grind of politics, but others likely did not wish to contend on behalf of a weakened and fractious party trailing by huge numbers in the polls.

The Liberals so far are failing in their effort to take advantage of the weakened NDP machine, once seemingly unassailable. Poor candidate selection and candidate disqualifications have left the party unable to field a full slate, surely a minimum requirement for a “government-in-waiting.” The Liberals have fielded some legitimate candidates, but too many of the party’s standard bearers are cannon fodder. Does anyone really think Billy Moore is going to oust Reg Helwer in Brandon West?

The Progressive Conservatives have fielded more home-field candidates, but even the party with the big lead in the polls will offer a number of non-local candidates on April 19.

Is this a harbinger of elections to come, where finding local candidates will become increasingly difficult as disaffection with the political process grows? A truly effective legislature, regardless of which party forms the next government, would be one way to pique the interest of Manitobans in serving as our elected representatives.