Daudrich touts oil and gas for Westman

Building an oil refinery in Westman and increasing oil and gas production in the province will be top priorities for Wally Daudrich if he becomes Turtle Mountain’s next MLA.

“I don’t see why Manitoba is burning a single drop of oil or using natural gas from outside Manitoba,” the former Progressive Conservative leadership candidate said in an interview in Brandon on Tuesday.

“My goal would be to represent this area so that … burning gas, oil, diesel, heating oil, jet fuel is 100 per cent from Manitoba,” Daudrich said.

“Why can’t we have a refinery, for instance, right here just south of Brandon, and all that oil and natural gas, because it’s there? It just needs the infrastructure.”

Building that infrastructure and relying only on Manitoba energy is “100 per cent” possible, and a PC government under Leader Obby Khan could get rid of regulations holding that back, he said.

Daudrich announced last week he would seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in Turtle Mountain after the current PC MLA for the riding, Doyle Piwniuk, said last month he would retire from politics at the end of his term.

Daudrich said he had been approached by Piwniuk before the fall about running in the Tory stronghold, which is one of the reasons he didn’t run in the Spruce Woods byelection in August. He had asked Khan for the PC nomination in Spruce Woods, but was turned down.

Daudrich received more votes than Khan in the PCs’ spring leadership contest, but Khan won because votes were weighted by constituency.

Daudrich said Manitoba is a “third-tier province” and he wants to turn that around, echoing Premier Wab Kinew’s stated goal of turning Manitoba into a “have” province.

“We are living on the good graces of our neighbours in Saskatchewan and Alberta and British Columbia, which actually pay into this equalization fund. I want to bring us to a place where we’re actually off the welfare scheme and paying into it rather than taking from it.”

Daudrich came under fire during the leadership campaign when he joked he would let polar bears loose outside the legislature as a way to combat homelessness.

He owns a hotel and ecotourism company in Churchill and splits his time between Churchill and the Morden area. He said he wants to run in Turtle Mountain because he lives very close to the eastern edge of the riding, he does a lot of business in the area and also has a background of running businesses.

“I do represent the values of southern Manitoba and southwestern Manitoba. And a lot of my (leadership) platform — my rural platform — was specifically geared towards this riding because I knew at some point I would be running here,” Daudrich said.

“I will be aggressively campaigning and looking to sign up new members, and looking for that base that would support me.”

Daudrich received 80 per cent of the vote in Turtle Mountain during the PC leadership contest, but said he “doesn’t take it for granted” against potential opponents.

Apart from pushing for an expansion of oil and gas development, another priority for Daudrich if he gets elected is rural gasification for homes and businesses.

Having homes hooked up to natural gas would be cheaper and could be used more easily for agriculture than electricity, he said.

Another aim is to have better water retention in southwestern Manitoba.

“In rural Manitoba, and especially in the southwest, we need water,” Daudrich said. “There’s no reason why we should allow the spring flood to whisk away what is actually an important resource for this area.”

He said in some parts of North Dakota, dammed creeks provide potable water and uses for recreation and farmers.

“We’ve gone into a place now where agriculture is intense — there’s been a lot of land that’s been drained,” he said.

In a PC government under Khan, Daudrich said he would like to be infrastructure minister.

He said Khan has been making changes since he became leader and that “we’ll see where it goes,” adding that data shows Khan is moving in a positive direction.

Regarding another potential run for leadership down the road, Daudrich said, “If the current takes me in that direction again, sure.”

The Sun reached out for comment from Khan about Daudrich running for the PCs in Turtle Mountain, but that request wasn’t answered.

A party spokesperson said the PCs are accepting nominations for some ridings.

“There are no nomination races announced yet, and 2027 is long way off, but if people are interested in running in a non-held riding, or a riding with a retiring MLA, they are encouraged to contact the PC Party,” the spokesperson said.

Daudrich submitted paperwork for the Turtle Mountain nomination last week.

He said other people have indicated to him that they might contest the PC nomination, but he hasn’t heard anything concrete.

Along with Piwniuk, PC MLAs Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach) and Ron Schuler (Springfield-Ritchot) have also announced they will retire at the end of their terms.

The next election is slated for October 2027.

Kinew in the fall hinted at calling an election before that time but told the Sun in November he’s “not thinking about an early election.”

In the last two provincial elections in Turtle Mountain, in 2019 and 2023, Piwniuk received 67 and 55 per cent of the vote, respectively. The riding was reconstituted ahead of the 2019 election.

» alambert@brandonsun.com