Voters in Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman will have no shortage of candidates to choose from when they head to the polls on Monday.
Six names will be on the ballot. CTV News reached out to each candidate in the final days of the election:
James Bezan – Conservative Party of Canada
Incumbent candidate James Bezan has held the Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman seat since 2004.
“Before this, I was a cattle producer and livestock exporter. Kelly and I have been married for 37 years and still live on our farm near Teulon,” he told CTV News in an email. “We have three wonderful daughters and three beautiful grandkids.”
While he has held on to the riding for the past seven elections, Bezan said he believes this election is one of the most important.
“Conservatives want to restore the Canadian promise for all Canadians: that hard work gets you a great life in a beautiful house in a safe community under our proud flag,” he said.
“I want to continue to stand up for our local communities, small businesses, commercial fishers, agriculture producers, and manufacturers, as well as advocating for the protection of Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba.”
Wayne James - Green Party of Canada
Wayne James is an organic farmer but has worn many hats throughout his career.
He graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 1976 in theatre set and lighting design, leading him to work in television and film. He has also taught as an instructor in an emergency vehicle operator course.
Now he is looking to add politics to the list.
“Politics, in understanding, is about how we chose to look after one another and this precious world we live on. It need not be about the empowerment of our capitalistic economy, which can leave a wasteland of poverty driven crime and broken human spirit in its wake,” he said in an email to CTV News.
“I’m not sure politics is about having a plan to win, which often appeals to emotions of anger and discontent. It is more about having a vision of what is possible based on an understanding of how we got to be where we are.”
Josef Estabrooks - NDP
Josef Estabrooks said he has spent many years watching elections from the sidelines.
“I became tired of the soundbites and talk of being on the right ‘side’ of issues replacing real positions and work for improvement,” he said in a written statement. “We are more complex than that and Canadians deserve the respect of their politicians treating them as whole people, not votes to be targeted with single issue shouts.”
That’s why Estabrooks, a father of three with a degree in justice and law enforcement, is vying for the seat.
He said the tariff threat and affordability are major concerns for Manitobans.
“The NDP’s commitment to practical solutions like regulating grocery price-fixing and removing the GST from essential products is something I am proud to stand for and can benefit each of us by benefitting all of us,” he said.
Byron Gryba – People’s Party of Canada
Byron Gryba is running as the candidate with the People’s Party of Canada.
“I decided to run in this election because I want my children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy the same freedom and pride of being a Canadian that I had,” a lengthy statement from Gryba reads in part.
Gryba grew up in the Grandview area as “your average farm kid” and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Manitoba.
The married father of five said he now operates a couple of businesses, including managing several single and multi-unit residential buildings along with an indoor landscaping business.
He said he wants to return Canada to “the basic values of classical liberalism with freedom of speech being recognized as a foundational pillar of a free and democratic society and the best way to determine truth.”
Rhonda Nichol (Liberal) and Chris Riddell (UPC)
CTV News has reached out and is awaiting a response from the remaining candidates – Rhonda Nichol with the Liberal Party of Canada, and Chris Riddell with the United Party of Canada.
Election Day is on Monday, April 28.
