Caldwell fights to hold Brandon East

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This article was published 08/09/2011 (5311 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While the incumbent in the provincial constituency of Brandon East says he’s confident his record of service over the past 12 years will lead him to re-election on Oct. 4, the constituency’s two other declared candidates say they will try their hardest to prove to voters there is a better choice.

The constituency of Brandon East has a population of 20,735 and encompasses all areas of Brandon east of 18th Street to Braecrest Drive, where it jogs over and runs along First Street North out to the Trans-Canada Highway.

Since its inception in 1969, Brandon East has always been represented in the legislature by an NDP MLA, the most recent of which is Drew Caldwell, who has been the incumbent since he was first elected in 1999.

Running against Caldwell in next month’s election are Progressive Conservative candidate Mike Waddell, who ran unsuccessfully against Caldwell in 2007, and Liberal Party of Manitoba candidate Shaun Cameron, who lost in the race for school trustee in last fall’s municipal election.

Caldwell believes he will be judged by voters based on his history of public service.

“I very much believe that my job is a daily review by the city of Brandon and I very much believe that my job every day is to build this community,” he said.

In addition to his commitment to work with all Brandonites, Caldwell said he has been campaigning on his party’s record of investment in the Wheat City since 1999, including cash for infrastructure projects such as the redevelopment of the Brandon Regional Health Centre and its new CancerCare centre, creation of the Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skateboard Plaza, upgrades at the Keystone Centre and Brandon University and the move of Assiniboine Community College to the former Brandon Mental Health Centre campus on First Street North.

“People are aware of our record and they’re also very aware that the opposition have opposed all these investments in Brandon,” he said.

The list of top NDP accomplishments that Caldwell is touting during this campaign includes the financial support given to Brandon during the spring flood, funding for the new Dood Cristall Family YMCA in Brandon and the Canada Games Sportsplex pool and continued support for Renaissance Brandon and the Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation.

Every single provincial budget since 1999 has been opposed by the Opposition Tories, Caldwell stressed — budgets that have ultimately flowed cash into Brandon for initiatives like affordable housing and bridge improvements.

“Every single penny spent and invested in Brandon has been opposed by our opponents in the Manitoba legislature,” he said. “There is a clear choice in this community … to support those who stand for Brandon in building a better community.”

Undertaking a second campaign to unseat Caldwell is Tory candidate Mike Waddell, who placed second in the 2007 provincial election with just over 38 per cent of the vote.

While unseating an NDP candidate in the traditionally orange and black constituency might be seen by some as an uphill battle, Waddell said earlier this year that a change in Brandon East is long overdue.

“The dirt is no different on the east side of 18th Street than it is on the west side of 18th Street. The only thing that is different is the way people have been told how to think for 42 years,” he said. “I believe the time has come to put Brandon East in play in such a way as to send a message to not only our province, but also our country, that people are tired of being told who they are to be, who they are to become and how they think.”

In addition to dealing with issues of crime and highway infrastructure across Westman, Waddell has said he would work as an elected MLA to lobby for an increase in the basic personal income tax exemption and to ensure that social and affordable housing is considered a transition into home ownership and not a “dead end” for people.

In speaking with people at their doorsteps, Waddell said “there’s just a ton of people, once they twig to the fact that there’s an election this fall, that they go, ‘Yes, Mike. We need change in Brandon East.’”

It’s that feedback , he said, that is giving him the confidence to run a winning campaign.

“I believe I’ve matured in the past five years and we believe that we’re ready to run a more equal campaign to my opponents ,” he said.

Shaun Cameron rounds out the field in Brandon East as the Liberal candidate and is hopeful he will be able to build on the public reputation he established as a candidate during last fall’s school board election race.

“I bring a young, fresh perspective to Brandon East,” he said. “I think I represent the goals of Brandon, being young, hard-working families. Bringing a new face to Brandon East would be a tremendous step forward.”

As a former employee with the Brandon School Division, Cameron points to education as a “big key” to his campaign.

“I want to look at ensuring that when people are graduating from universities in Manitoba, they want to stay in Manitoba,” he said.

As a Liberal MLA, Cameron said he would also fight to get “more doctors in rural areas,” look at “reducing wait times at hospitals” and “have people living in their own homes and being able to afford their own homes.”

The career counsellor said he’d also be interested in a “big picture” discussion on water management in the Brandon area, given this year’s unprecedented flooding.

“Any time that any one of the parties could look at water management and look at maybe some watershed projects around here that would make it so the city doesn’t have to do this on a regular basis, I think it would be a step in the right direction,” he said.

No announcement has been made as to a Green Party of Manitoba candidate or a Communist Party of Manitoba candidate in Brandon East. However, candidates have until Sept. 13 at 1 p.m to file their nomination papers with Elections Manitoba.

» adowd@brandonsun.com

Drew Caldwell, New Democrat

Age: 51; Married

Occupation: MLA, Brandon East

Notable history:

• Three-term MLA for Brandon East

• Three-term Brandon city councillor (Rosser ward)

• Multiple terms on community boards ranging from Park Community Centre to the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba to the Brandon Regional Health Authority.

• Has also served several dozen community organizations, both as a private citizen as well as an elected official-member of the Royal Canadian Legion

Shaun Cameron, Liberal

Age: 31; Married to wife Karol; one daughter

Occupation: Employment facilitator for persons with disabilities

Notable history:

• Ran unsuccessfully as a Brandon School Board trustee in 2010

• Current vice-chair and communications strategy chair of the Renaissance Brandon board of directors

• Five years working in Brandon media, both at CKX TV and itvbrandon.com, and eight years working in the Brandon School Division as an educational assistant

• Committee member of Brandon’s Handi-Transit advisory committee and board member of Learning Disabilities Association of Manitoba

Mike Waddell, Progressive Conservative

Age: 41; Married to wife, Naomi, for 21 years; four children

Occupation: Construction safety officer, Chaplain to the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Brandon Police Service

Notable History:

• Ran unsuccessfully in Brandon East in the 2007 provincial election

• Board member of Career Connections

• Volunteer with youth hockey and youth football organizations

• Serves with the Red Cross Abuse Prevention board and other youth services committees in Brandon