Tories choose Blake in Brandon East

Robert Blake has emerged as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Brandon East in the upcoming provincial election following a nomination meeting held at St. Andrews Church in Brandon on Saturday afternoon.

Blake won the PC nomination after a closely contested vote against Randall Massia, the only other candidate seeking the nomination.

“I’m excited,” Blake said following the vote, while acknowledging that he felt “kind of overwhelmed” by the work ahead.

The longtime Brandon resident said his immediate priorities will be fundraising, recruiting volunteers and building a strong campaign organization ahead of the election, which will take place on or before Oct. 5, 2027.

“For us, fundraising is a big thing and getting volunteers,” he said.

Blake, who serves as vice-president of the Brandon East PC Association, said his campaign will rely heavily on door-to-door canvassing and outreach to different community and cultural groups.

“We’ve got the ground sort of set up where we can get some groups together, nationality groups, and speak to them,” he told the Sun.

Blake said he is presenting himself as a candidate with extensive experience in the trades, small business and property management.

He grew up on a farm outside Rapid City and has lived in Brandon for more than 40 years. He earned his interprovincial mechanic’s licence through Assiniboine College and Red River College Polytechnic and worked as a licensed mechanic, shop foreman and service manager.

He also taught mechanics at Assiniboine and owned and operated Blake’s Alternative Auto for 10 years. He has been operating Robert the Builder Home Renovations for about 15 years and currently works with Brydges Property Management.

In his nomination speech, Blake said those experiences have given him an understanding of the challenges facing working families and small-business owners.

“I know what families face today: trying to pay mortgages, pay too much car repairs, put food on the table, put your kids through school,” he said.

Affordability, the economy and health care are expected to be central issues in Blake’s campaign.

Blake criticized the current state of health care, pointing to the experience of a campaign scrutineer who he said spent 14 hours in a Winnipeg emergency department.

“The NDP have done a lot. They have hired some nurses and staff, doctors and stuff, but they need to do more,” he said. “It’s not enough.”

Blake also highlighted a proposal from PC Leader Obby Khan to eliminate provincial income tax on the first $30,000 earned, “putting more money into residents’ pockets would encourage spending and help the economy.”

Safety is another issue Blake said he intends to emphasize, particularly the impact of drug use in the community.

In his nomination speech, he drew on his experience managing a 78-unit seniors’ complex through Brydges Property Management. Blake said he has helped about 12 people transition from homelessness into housing, including people recovering from drug and alcohol addictions.

He said those experiences have given him a firsthand understanding of the impact of drugs on individuals and communities.

“I think we’ve taken about 12 people off the streets,” Blake said. “I saw firsthand what drugs can do to people, physically and mentally.”

Blake said he favours intervention and counselling rather than approaches he believes enable drug use, and said he does not support safe consumption sites.

He also placed family and affordability at the centre of his campaign pitch, noting that he and his wife Barb raised three children in Brandon and now have four grandchildren.

“Family is the reason I care deeply about making life more affordable for everyone in the next generation,” he said.

PC Party director of operations Sheila Stacey said she could not disclose the breakdown of the result, but said the vote was close enough that the party was nearly required to use its tie-breaking vote.

Massia, a Brandon resident and former Canadian Armed Forces member who later worked with Veterans Affairs Canada, accepted the result.

“It just wasn’t my day, I guess,” Massia said after the vote.

Party president Peter Smith said the nomination process went smoothly and pledged the party’s support to Blake as he begins his campaign.

Brandon West Tory MLA Wayne Balcaen also welcomed Blake’s nomination, describing him as an “honest, upright member of the community,” and said the party’s candidate will be a formidable opponent for Simard.

Balcaen said health care will likely be a significant issue in the campaign, arguing that the NDP government has failed to deliver on commitments made during the 2023 election.

Blake will now turn his attention to the general election campaign, where he will challenge Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard, who has represented Brandon East since the 2023 election.

When contacted by the Sun on Saturday, Simard’s aide said he was not available for comment.

“Glen is not available today, but looks forward to meeting the candidate and the campaign ahead while running on the accomplishments our government has brought to Brandon,” he said.

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

» X: @AbiolaOdutola