Unusual arrangement part of election speculation in Manitoba

Judy Klassen said Thursday she is no longer seeking to be nominated to run again for her northern Manitoba legislature seat of Keewatinook, and will focus solely on her previously announced bid for the federal Liberal nomination in the same region. (File Photo: Judy Klassen/Facebook)

WINNIPEG — A Manitoba Liberal who wants to make the jump to federal politics appears to have a backup plan that involves relatives serving as possible place-holders.

Judy Klassen said Thursday she is no longer seeking to be nominated to run again for her northern Manitoba legislature seat of Keewatinook, and will focus solely on her previously announced bid for the federal Liberal nomination in the same region.

The federal election is slated for October and Premier Brian Pallister has indicated he could send Manitobans to the ballot box this year ahead of the scheduled 2020 vote.

Klassen said if she doesn’t win the federal nomination, which would pit her against NDP incumbent Niki Ashton, she hopes that whoever wins the provincial nomination would step aside and allow her to re-enter the Manitoba race.

“The possible (provincial) candidates are directly related to me,” Klassen said. She did not provide names.

When asked whether her relatives would step aside, Klassen said: “Oh, for sure.”

The Manitoba election is set for Oct. 6, 2020, but Pallister has repeatedly hinted he might hold the vote this year. In recent media interviews, he has said the vote could come just before or after the federal election campaign this fall.

The opposition parties have been scrambling to get candidates in place. The Liberals have a handful nominated to date. Klassen was scheduled to be nominated for her legislature seat last month, but the meeting was cancelled.

The legislature is scheduled to break for the summer next week and several politicians have taken time to thank voters in their constituencies for electing them — something normally done before an election.

In question period Thursday, Health Minister Cameron Friesen took a shot at Opposition New Democrat Andrew Swan. Swan, who represents the Minto constituency in Winnipeg, has announced he will serve out his current term but not run for re-election.

“The member for Minto might want to hear this answer, in his dying days in this chamber,” Friesen said while responding to a question on health care.

The Progressive Conservative government has introduced a motion to allow it to spend up to 75 per cent of this year’s budget before the budget must be voted on in the chamber.

The move is not unprecedented — the former NDP government did the same in 2015. The Tories say they are doing it this year because the opposition parties have delayed proceedings throughout the spring, and government spending and the public payroll must not grind to a halt.

Swan sees the move, and the government’s rationale, as yet more signs of an early election.

“They are trying to … set up some kind of false emergency or false panic, that will now once again give the premier some justification for calling an … election.”