Balcaen seeks Tory nomination

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This article was published 26/06/2023 (1073 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The retirement for Brandon’s recently departed police chief lasted a grand total of two days.

Flanked by family members, Wayne Balcaen announced Monday he is seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination for Brandon West in this fall’s provincial election.

His last day as head of the Brandon Police Service was last Friday.

Balcaen’s entry turns the race to replace the soon-to-retire Reg Helwer becomes a contested one with former Brandon Riverbank general manager James Montgomery having announced his candidacy for the Tory nomination in February.

Delivering remarks in a private room at Joe Beeverz Bar & Grill, Balcaen said he cut short his policing career by about four months to seek the nomination.

Though he said he has lived all his life in Brandon East, that constituency already has a candidate this fall in PC MLA Len Isleifson, who was present at the event.

Spruce Woods already has former legislative staffer Grant Jackson nominated as its Tory candidate, so Balcaen said Brandon West was the logical choice for him.

“I wanted to take this opportunity to continue to serve my community at a different level,” Balcaen said. “I have a strong history of public service, and I bring a strong voice to our community.”

In an interview after the announcement, Balcaen said he tried to be apolitical during his policing career and that politics are still new to him.

He said his decision to run for the Progressive Conservatives was influenced by working with the party for six years as police chief.

“I’m very appreciative of their policies on justice,” he said. “It’s not just about arresting people and putting them in jail. They’re investing in community mobilization, they’re investing in other justice outcomes such as restorative justice and other areas that can have an impact.”

For many years, Balcaen said, he has known that crime is not a problem that Manitoba can arrest its way out of, and that’s something the current government recognizes.

In his last year as chief, Balcaen worked to introduce a community service officer program to Brandon. He told Brandon City Council that BPS officers spend a disproportionate amount of time dealing with social issues and doing things like accompanying detainees to the hospital.

The hiring process is currently underway to bring in non-sworn officers known as cadets to handle lower acuity issues and free up resources for sworn officers.

Should he be elected, Balcaen said he would champion programs like these that were introduced in the first place by the current Tory government. He also praised the current government efforts to tackle bail reform to crack down on repeat offenders.

In discussing his platform, the former chief brought up addictions as something he has first-hand experience tackling.

In the past, party leader and Premier Heather Stefanson has criticized safe consumption sites, often suggested as a potential method of harm reduction for drug users.

“That’s a difficult one because I’ve always looked at that from a policing perspective and seen how it can, in other jurisdictions, draw crime into the area where a safe injection site is,” Balcaen said.

“But you know, I’m one that will also look at some of the science for this, so I’ll continue to explore this and see what the best options for our community are.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Progressive Conservatives have taken a lot of flack for their handling of Manitoba’s health-care system. Balcaen said the government has room to improve on that front, but that it has acknowledged that fact and is working on rebuilding the system.

Heading into this fall’s election, many sitting Tory MLAs and cabinet ministers have made the decision to leave politics instead of running again.

While some commentators have expressed concern about the level of knowledge and experience the party is losing, Balcaen said it’s an opportunity for candidates like him to bring in new ideas and show their leadership qualities.

He said he expected a respectful nomination battle between himself and Montgomery.

Reached for comment, Montgomery said he was considering his options after Balcaen’s entry into the nomination race. He said he would announce more information about the future of his campaign later this week.

So far, the only candidate to secure their party’s nomination in Brandon West is retired teacher Bill Marsh, running for the Green Party of Manitoba.

In Spruce Woods, local entrepreneur Michelle Budiwski has been selected as the Manitoba Liberal candidate.

Isleifson is the only Brandon representative seeking re-election this fall. He’s being challenged in Brandon East by NDP candidate and local teacher Glen Simard, as well as ACC instructor Trenton Zazalak, who’s running for the Liberals.

Manitoba’s fixed-term election legislation dictates the next election must take place on or before Oct. 4, 2023.

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