Loren Braul, Liberal Party
Loren Braul is throwing his hat in the ring on behalf of the Manitoba Liberal Party for a third time this election because he believes strongly that voters deserve a choice.
“There is a fairly sizeable group of people who are not wanting just the same kind of representation year after year,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that they did have somebody to vote for in the election,, as opposed to further disengaging from the pollical process.”
That’s always the danger in an area that has voted overwhelming the same way for generations (Borderland, formerly the Emerson riding, hasn’t voted in anything but a Conservative since 1977), Braul noted.
“We still want to make sure people have an option on the ballot of someone who lives here and who’s invested in this community who can, if the stars aligned and I did win, provide meaningful representation for the area.”
Braul lives in Altbergthal, near Altona, with his family. He’s a partner at the Gilmour Braul Hiebert Law Office and is an active community member, having volunteered with Regional Connections, the Altona Community Foundation, and at his church.
He has been a strong supporter of the Liberal Party for years, feeling it has the best approach to stable, sensible governance.
“What I like about the Liberals, or just a centrist party altogether, is it is not as ideologically driven as some other parties,” he observed. “We have this space there to find pragmatic solutions, make some incremental change. It’s not always the most exciting approach to governing … we just want stability. We want government to make sure that we’re providing for essential services.
“We’re going to be driven by data and what works.”
Along those lines, Braul wants to see a more stable funding commitment for things like public education and health care.
“For years the Conservatives have decided essentially just to spend less. And so they’ve given mandate letters to the health care authorities or to the school divisions or municipalities and said, in some cases, your budget next year is going to be 15 per cent less or 20 per cent less … they haven’t done a needs assessment to say the approach that we’re taking is still going to allow you to meet your needs. The only objective is to spend less.
“In order for these groups to be successful, they need to know that they can rely on core funding to meet their needs,” Braul stressed. “We need to make sure that we can have teachers in the classrooms that are going to keep our student ratio well. We need to know that we can keep our emergency rooms open or that we can keep our hospitals open. And municipalities need to know that they can get a budget for paving their roads.
“Right now, a lot of those groups, they have to compete against each other for a small pot of funding, and that creates a lot of uncertainty.”
Braul emphasized that the government needs to give local leaders sufficient support to do what they know needs to be done for the betterment of their communities.
“I think the main role for the Province at this point is to fund them fairly and predictably so they can do their job,” he said. “If you’re going to give them the responsibility, then you’ve got to give them the funding to act on it.”
Rick Derksen, New Democratic Party
Rick Derksen believes the NDP represents Manitoba’s best chance for change for the better.
The rookie candidate shared in an email interview with the Voice that he’s running to give Borderland voters options.
“I chose Borderland to run in not just because of my family history here, but because I believed that the voters of Borderland deserved a choice on the ballot,” he said. “I believe that the voters in this area should be able to vote for an NDP candidate because we are the only party that can defeat this government.
“Wab Kinew has said he will be a premier to all Manitobans—he cares about people in Borderland and the rural municipalities across the province,” Derksen said. “When Wab asked me to run I said yes because I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing while Borderland voters suffered from a premier who took their votes for granted and has done nothing to help the people in this community.”
Derksen, who is a Winnipeg architect, shares that he’s a descendent of Ukrainian immigrants who came to the Borderland area to farm. He says he feels a deep connection to the community.
“As a person of faith, I believe I share the strong values of many of the people of this part of Manitoba,” Derksen noted, pointing to his involvement with Engineering Ministries International, a Christian non-profit which designs and builds structures which serve communities and the church. He’s been involved in building projects in Africa and the Middle East.
His background as an architect will serve him in good stead if he’s elected, Derksen reflected.
“Architects believe that every system needs to be designed. We spend our time designing systems, creating budgets and then re-designing that system when conditions change. Because I think in those terms, I believe I can be effective in a government environment that has to frequently adapt to the quickly moving conditions of our present society.
“Working as an architect, I’ve seen how badly we need affordable housing. I believe my experience in this area will contribute to ensuring that the NDP policies are as effective and efficient as possible at creating livable housing that allows working families to put down roots in every community.”
Health care, agriculture, and the high cost of living are other issues Derksen feels passionately about tackling.
“The NDP has made restoring rural health care a priority, and for good reason. You can see it everywhere in the province, so I agree with the party that Manitobans should not have to suffer unnecessarily because of a government that believes we should cut services and reward multi-billion dollar out of province companies,” he said.
On agriculture, Derksen noted that “the family farm has been threatened for many years now. I stand by our policies that support young farmers who want to make a life in agriculture, and the long-term farmers who have been forced to compete with huge multi-national agricultural corporations that put profit before the quality and safety of the food they grow.”
Finally, when it comes to affordability, he noted it’s at the root of many other problems our society is facing.
“Costs are rising faster than wages and people are falling farther and farther behind in their bills. This in turn leads to an increase in poverty, which leads to an increase in homelessness and crime. Band aid solutions to these problems are not working and the real solutions to these issues involve many sectors working together.”
Josh Guenter, Progressive Conservative
Josh Guenter feels his first four years in office were fruitful ones, and he’s eager to get to work on the next four.
“There’s more work to do,” the Altona area resident said. “I feel proud of what has been accomplished, but also recognize that the job is not done in this area.
“When I say that I’m talking specifically about the need to stand up for the moms and dads, the parents of this area, who are sending their children to school and want to have confidence in the school system,” he added.
The Manitoba PCs have promised parents they will have expanded parental rights in regards to what’s happening in schools if they’re relected next month.
Health care is another area where Guenter believes lots of headway has been made but there’s still more to be done.
“We’ve seen the expansion that’s underway now at Boundary Trails Health Care Centre, a $100-million expansion,” he said. “And the new patient transfer service, which is a low-acuity transfer service that takes the pressure off our paramedics, off our ambulances, which is something I’ve advocated for.
“We know we face challenges in Manitoba, as do all provinces across the country, but it’s about working to shore up the system with more staff and bigger and better facilities and ensure, ultimately, that we have better health care closer to home. That’s the end goal.”
Infrastructure remains another key focus for the Conservatives as they seek another term in power, Guenter said, pointing to the “need for further infrastructure investments, whether it’s our roads and bridges, drainage.”
Likewise, the party remains committed to lowering the tax burden on Manitobans, Guenter stressed, including by cutting personal income tax and eliminating payroll tax.
He also cited the importance of battling the federal carbon tax and standing up for the rights of gun owners.
Above all else, Guenter feels people need a leader that listens to their constituents and stands by their values.
“People want to know that the representative is standing up and fighting for them, and that’s what I’ve tried to do in these last four years.
“It hasn’t always been easy. It’s meant at times going against my own party, it’s meant sometimes having to upset the apple cart a bit, but my purpose has always been to stand up for my convictions and to stand up for my constituency, because ultimately I want to know when I see them in the grocery store and I see them around town that I can look at them and say, I know I did my best.”
He believes the Conservative Party is the right choice for Manitoba.
“I’m a Conservative because I believe in the potential of the working man and woman,” Guenter said. “I believe that family is the fundamental building block of society and needs to be respected. It’s at the core of how a free society functions, and government must be mindful of that and not interfere with that.
“Government must respect the natural ingenuity and enterprise and hard work of free-thinking individuals and not interfere with that.
“I really believe that the government that governs least governs best.”
Manitobans head to the polls Oct. 3. Advance voting takes place Sept. 23-30.
—By Ashleigh Viveiros
