Spruce Woods race nears finish line

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This article was published 30/09/2023 (917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In three days, local residents will be voting in a new MLA for Spruce Woods, a constituency that comprises more than a dozen Westman communities including the northern tip of Brandon.

A fresh face for Spruce Woods was guaranteed last December after current Progressive Conservative representative Cliff Cullen publicly announced that he would not be seeking re-election.

Cullen has served as the MLA for Spruce Woods since its creation in 2008 through the redistribution of the Turtle Mountain and Minnedosa electoral districts.

Following a second round of provincial riding redistribution in 2018, Spruce Woods now encompasses an area of 6,125 square kilometres that includes municipalities such as Oak Lake, Rivers, Kemnay, Souris, Wawanesa, Glenboro and Holland.

The current boundaries for Spruce Woods also loop in the City of Brandon, with all adult residents living north of the Assiniboine River being eligible to vote in this constituency.

The first person to emerge as Cullen’s possible successor was government employee Grant Jackson, who clinched the official PC nomination during a candidacy election in February.

Despite only being 26 years old, Jackson has been involved with federal and provincial politics for over a decade, working for major players such as Cullen, Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire and even Tory Leader Heather Stefanson.

However, Jackson told the Sun earlier this week that one of his biggest political influences is his father Darryl, who served as the mayor of Souris-Glenwood between 2005 and 2022.

“Growing up in the home of a municipal politician, you get to understand grassroots politics at its most grassroots level,” he said.

“People don’t phone and make an appointment at the mayor’s office. To have a conversation with the mayor of a small town, they phone your home phone number or they show up at your door.”

Jackson has been putting this face-to-face approach to politics to good use for his first attempt at capturing public office, knocking on doors throughout the region to get a better understanding of the issues that matter the most to Spruce Woods constituents.

According to Jackson, the topic of health care comes up at almost every stop, especially in the areas surrounding Brandon where staffing shortages have resulted in the outright closure of certain rural emergency rooms.

While these health-care gaps have emerged under the current PC government, Jackson believes that Premier Stefanson is working diligently to solve the problem through initiatives like the $200-million Health Human Resource Action Plan, which aims to hire 2,000 new nurses, doctors, allied health professionals and support staff across the province.

Jackson also mentioned that the PC government is committed to adding 400 new nursing education training seats throughout Manitoba, with some of those seats being set aside for local post-secondary schools like Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College.

If elected next week, Jackson said he will use his built-in knowledge of the political system to guarantee more funding and resources for the region when it comes to health care, education and other pressing matters.

“I do think my government experience is an asset,” he said. “It will be an asset for this constituency because I know how things get done. I know how the process works in Winnipeg. I know how it works in Ottawa. I’ve played in both of those arenas.”

Jackson’s primary opponent in this race is Manitoba Liberal candidate Michelle Budiwski, who announced her intention to run in June.

Unlike Jackson, Budiwski comes from an entrepreneurial background, having run several businesses in the region (Chrysalis Publications, Escape: The Final Countdown, Muck Off!: A Cleaning Company) and serving as the proprietor of a multi-platform information network known as Real Westman.

Talking to the Sun last week, the longtime Rivers resident believes that her well-rounded experience as a parent, business owner, homeowner and educator at ACC trumps Jackson’s status as a political insider, especially when it comes to properly assessing the needs of everyday Spruce Woods constituents.

“You have to understand a little bit of where they’re coming from in order to help them and help guide government as to what they need,” she said. “We don’t need more politicians that have no experience other than politics. We’ve got enough of those.”

Despite her confidence, Budiwski is fully aware that she is the underdog in this race.

Not only has Spruce Woods been a solidly blue district since it was first contested in 2011, but its previous incarnation as Turtle Mountain featured nothing but PC representatives (including Cullen) since 1981.

However, Budiwski believes voters are ready for a change, especially after they’ve endured the last seven years of living under a Conservative-majority government.

“Our hospitals are still closing, our roads are still falling apart and we are still not seeing any progress,” she said.

“Continuing to do the same thing we’ve always done, expecting different results, is the definition of insanity. So I’m not asking people to support me because I’m a Manitoba Liberal. I’m asking people to support me because I’m by far the best candidate to represent our community.”

Manitoba NDP candidate Melissa Ghidoni provided a similar critique of the PC government in a written statement supplied to the Sun, claiming that a lot of the region’s problems with crime and homelessness can be traced to a glaring lack of affordable housing and mental health services.

“Under the current PC government, people with serious mental health issues are not getting the treatment they need,” Ghidoni wrote.

“Because of the rise in rents, they don’t have a stable living environment and so often can’t maintain their treatments. If we improve rural health care in this province, it will have an effect [sic] on reducing crime and poverty.”

Ghidoni currently works as an administrative professional and previously served as a member of the Red River College Students’ Association, where she advocated on behalf of post-secondary students to all levels of government.

She’s also sat on national boards like the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, which provided her with an understanding of governance that will hopefully translate to this provincial seat in Westman.

“If I have the honor of serving the people of Spruce Woods … as their MLA, I will work hard every day to make sure that rural Manitobans are no longer ignored,” she wrote in her statement.

Despite her claims, Ghidoni has been largely missing from the campaign trail, declining to speak to the Sun for an interview and failing to show up for the official Spruce Woods candidates debate that took place on Sept. 20 in Brandon.

In her absence, Jackson and Budiwski still took part in a spirited back-and-forth on the debate stage over a number of contentious topics, including and the true meaning behind the PCs’ championing of “parental rights.”

This issue has remained a hot-button election talking point ever since mid-August, when the PCs announced their intention to modify the Public Schools Act to allow for more parental oversight.

These additions to the legislation include giving parents “the right to be informed about curriculum” and “the right to advance notice before any presentations are made in school from outside the school system.”

While critics of this pledge pointed out that many of these “rights” are already baked into local school divisions, Jackson said this proposed change to the Public Schools Act is about making sure these measures are implemented universally.

“While it may be the practice of school divisions in their local policies to have some of those provisions in place, it’s not enshrined in the act,” he told the Sun.

“So the premier in our party made a commitment that this should be clearly outlined in the act, what exactly the parental rights are very specifically, so that it’s clear and universal across the board, across all school divisions.”

However, Budiwski believes there is a more sinister element at play, especially since the PCs’ emphasis on “parental rights” as a campaign slogan comes after months of increasing hostility towards LGBTQ+ content in schools.

In fact, Budiwski told the Sun back in June that she was largely encouraged to run for office following the push to install a book review committee at the Brandon School Division, with the group in charge of this initiative flagging material related to queer identity and sexual health as being particularly objectionable.

While the school board voted against adopting this book review committee on May 23, the topic has continued to linger in the community, with dozens of local parents taking part in the national “1 Million March 4 Children” last week.

In lieu of all this public backlash against LGBTQ+ content in schools, Budiwski believes that the PCs’ ownership of “parental rights” is a blatant “dogwhistle” to the extremist wing of its voters, even if candidates like Jackson claim otherwise.

“If they don’t understand how this policy is encouraging hate and bigotry, then either they are lying or they’re incompetent and should not form government,” she said. “Because for them not to realize what is going on is intentional ignorance.”

In spite of their differences, Jackson, Budiwski and Ghidoni all told the Sun they want the best for Spruce Woods, even if their methods of securing peace and prosperity for the riding vary.

But to Budiwski, this election will ultimately come down to a two-horse race between her and Jackson, with Ghidoni only existing as a candidate “on paper” due to her absence.

“It’s not about the party. It’s not about the leaders. It’s about who is going to represent and work for our communities,” she said. “And it’s either me or Grant.”

Today is the last day for advance voting before Tuesday’s provincial election.

For a full list of advance polling locations in Spruce Woods visit electionsmanitoba.ca/en/Voting/AdvanceLocations.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com