First Nations vote swung to Liberals in Manitoba election
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/05/2016 (3420 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Rural Westman constituencies were a blowout in favour of the Progressive Conservatives, with polling data showing big wins at the majority of polls.
Arthur-Virden MLA-elect Doyle Piwniuk won with nearly 81 per cent of the vote, while Swan River was the closest constituency in the area Elections Manitoba deems the “Southwest Region.” PC MLA-elect Rick Wowchuk defeated former NDP agriculture minister Ron Kostyshyn in Swan River, picking up 56.2 per cent of the vote compared to Kostyshyn’s 33.1 per cent.
One area of intrigue, however, is on First Nations, according to Brandon University political scientist Kelly Saunders.
On Waywayseecappo First Nation in Riding Mountain, Liberal candidate Jordan Fleury picked up 88 votes, compared to 21 for the NDP, six for the eventual winner PC MLA-elect Greg Nesbitt, and nine for the Greens.
It was a big swing compared to 2011, when the Liberals only received five votes and the NDP garnered 68.
Saunders said the federal Liberals mobilized the First Nations vote and some of that momentum carried forward to the provincial election.
“The aboriginal vote solidified for the Liberal in some areas,” Saunders said. “That was something we saw in the federal election. Record numbers of indigenous people voted for the first time and most of that vote went Liberal.”
On Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in Arthur-Virden, there was no Liberal candidate. Manitoba Party candidate Frank Godon secured the most votes with 21, while the NDP got 16 and the PCs five.
Canupawakpa also voted in favour of Godon, casting 19 ballots for the Boissevain candidate compared to three each for the NDP and PCs.
Birdtail Sioux First Nation was the only reserve Godon lost as the NDP’s Lorne Topolinski took the poll with 13 votes compared to Godon’s seven.
Godon, who like Fleury is Métis, was buoyed by his ancestry, according to Saunders.
“If someone doesn’t have a clear party identification,” Saunders explained, “their tendency is to take a second look at someone who is representative of their own group, whether that is gender or race — simply because they have that connection to lived experience.”
While First Nations voters have sided with the NDP in the past, Saunders said polling data from the recent election represents a shift to Liberals.
Agassiz Progressive Conservative MLA Eileen Clarke, the new minister for indigenous and municipal relations, won Sandy Bay, capturing 68 votes compared to 46 for the NDP.
Voter turnout on First Nations remained substantially lower than the provincial average.
» The Brandon Sun