NDP names Robinson their candidate for Brandon West

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This article was published 14/08/2023 (1024 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The race for Brandon West in October’s provincial election heated up on Saturday with the Manitoba NDP officially nominating a candidate.

About a dozen people were at the West End Community Centre to see retired United Church minister and family therapist Quentin Robinson be acclaimed the party’s representative in the battle to become the constituency’s next MLA, with no one else running for the nomination.

The Ontario-born former farmer first announced he was seeking the nomination last month.

During a speech at Saturday’s event, Robinson’s friend of more than a decade Debbie Dandy called him a “great facilitator and confident spokesperson.”

Robinson will go up against former Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen, who retired from his position early to run for the governing Progressive Conservatives, and retired teacher Bill Marsh, who is running for the Green Party of Manitoba. The Manitoba Liberals haven’t yet nominated a candidate.

Incumbent Tory MLA Reg Helwer, a former cabinet minister, announced early this year that he would not seek a fourth term in office after representing the constituency in the Manitoba Legislature since 2011.

Now the party’s official nominee, Robinson faces the task of trying to reclaim Brandon West for the NDP for the first time since 2007, when former cabinet minister Scott Smith lost his seat to former Brandon Mayor Rick Borotsik who claimed the seat for the Tories.

“I think the main question coming into this campaign is, do we want more of what we’ve been getting or do we want change?” Robinson said in his first speech as candidate.

“And underneath that question is, do we want more cuts or do we want more care? The Pallister and Stefanson government have been all about cuts. That is, up until the last five minutes before the election campaign started, of course.”

He said the public wasn’t fooled by the PC government’s pre-election spending blitz after years of cuts.

Health-care workers, seniors and children would all be treated appropriately under an NDP government that would also work to better the economy and the environment, he said.

“We care that too many people can’t afford the basics of food, housing and the energy to keep their houses warm,” Robinson said.

“We care that, too often, women and Indigenous people, people of colour, members of the queer community and those who are differently abled have been denied or not been able to access the very best that Manitoba has to offer and we want to change that. We need more care, not cuts. I think that is what the people of Brandon West want.”

When Robinson first announced his candidacy last month, he said he felt his residency in Brandon West gave him an advantage over Balcaen, who lives in Brandon East.

On Saturday, Robinson said he also believes that his experience as an entrepreneur and face-to-face experience with people as a therapist will serve him well in the upcoming campaign.

Robinson said he believes his party wants to talk about affordability and health care where the Conservatives have talked about anything other than health care.

He said accusations the Tories have levied against the NDP about supposedly wanting to raise the PST are a fantasy created to distract from the real issues of the campaign.

Now that the nomination is finalized, Robinson said the work can begin for he and his wife — who is acting as his campaign manager — to start mobilizing their efforts in earnest.

Though things like a campaign website are still getting worked on, he said a short biography and an email address voters can contact him through should be added to the party’s website in the coming week.

Garnet Boyd, the president of the Brandon West NDP constituency association, acknowledged that the area has been a strong Conservative territory but expressed hope of a breakthrough after the current government’s handling of the health care and its abortive attempt to reform the education system.

“People will remember that, and it will be brought up again during the campaign to let people know and get them to remember what the Conservative government did,” he said. “So I think we have a very, very good chance of taking Brandon West back.”

Election day is Oct. 3.

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