‘I feel that I need to pass the torch’

Turtle Mountain Progressive Conservative MLA Doyle Piwniuk said he announced his intention to step away from the legislature on Wednesday to give the party time to find his successor.

The timing was right, he said, because the NDP has already started ramping up its plans for the next election.

“When the NDP had their convention (last weekend) and they name a campaign manager and they actually nominate the Brandon East MLA, I want to make sure that we’re ready,” Piwniuk said.

At the NDP annual convention in Brandon last weekend, the party nominated Brandon East MLA Glen Simard to run in the next election. Premier Wab Kinew also told NDP members to start preparing for the election that is still nearly two years away.

Piwniuk, who has been an MLA since 2014, said he feels “so blessed” to have represented Turtle Mountain and Arthur-Virden as its representative. He will stay on as MLA until the next election.

“I feel that I need to pass the torch,” Piwniuk said in an interview on Thursday.

“My wife just retired, and I want to spend more time with her,” the 58-year-old said. “And I wanted to make sure that Turtle Mountain had … time to select my successor for being a strong voice for Turtle Mountain and western Manitoba.”

The next scheduled general election is in October 2027. Giving advance notice that he’s not running again will allow for people to come forward as a replacement, and give the PCs extra time as well, he said.

Piwniuk, the former transportation and infrastructure minister, was first voted into the legislature in a byelection in Arthur-Virden. The riding was dissolved in 2019, and Piwniuk won the Turtle Mountain seat that year.

Piwniuk feels “very optimistic” for the party, he said, with a new leader rebuilding it and taking it in a “new direction.”

Once his term ends, Piwniuk said he plans to work as a consultant for companies in the region.

That will include helping businesses “manoeuvre in the challenging times” and deal with red tape and changing labour laws, he said, adding his expertise in government will help in that job.

“I feel that businesses — and especially young people — need that assistance to move them to be successful in this province.”

Piwniuk said he’s grateful for the support he’s received during his time in office.

“I so value that (voters) put the trust in me for two elections, and then two elections prior, with Arthur-Virden. I love to represent western Manitoba and I really was so honoured to serve the people of Turtle Mountain,” he said.

Piwniuk received 55 per cent of the vote in the last election, and higher tallies in his other three contests.

He said he did a lot of “soul-searching” in the last year and that leaving was a “tough decision to make.”

MLAs in Winnipeg don’t know how hard it is to serve in rural areas, having to spend time away from home, he said.

Whether he continues in his current role as the transportation and infrastructure critic for the PCs will be up to party Leader Obby Khan, he said, adding that if Khan gives someone else the role, he would be there to help.

In a statement to the Sun, Khan thanked Piwniuk for his service and wished him well in his future.

Following Wednesday evening’s town hall in the RM of Pipestone on carbon-capture company Deep Sky’s plans to build in the province’s southwestern corner, Piwniuk encouraged people to do their research on the topic.

The Montreal-based company said its has identified “promising” locations for the 100-employee site in the municipalities of Pipestone and Two Borders, the latter of which is in Piwniuk’s riding.

“Everybody needs to do their homework,” he said. “Hopefully the communication is done well, because I think it’s jobs, it’s opportunity, it’s economic development, and I’m hoping everybody gets their research.”

Piwniuk said there needs to be more jobs in the area, as the current population is dwindling.

“People have to look at both sides. Do they want economic development and they want the community to survive and thrive? Or do they want to be opposed to it, so that no one comes into their area to invest.”

Piwniuk also said he has no ties to the company.

» alambert@brandonsun.com