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After a very long night watching the votes roll in, the morning brought the finalized results for Manitoba's 2023 election.
NDP's Ron Kostyshyn was definitely feeling the effects, and he could barely sleep due to the anticipation.
"Definitely not. we got home and the excitement still was flowing through the bloodstream. and then later on, we did hear somewhat of a positive note so we sat around and it was about 3 o'clock in the morning when we finally decided we get some sleep."
Gord Wood of the PC party is also feeling a bit low after the night, as he's feeling a bit more than just fatigue.
"Feeling some Disappointment, but there's a lot of woulda, shoulda, coulda kind of stuff. Certainly, we knew the poll when we started had us at a 99 to 1 to even win the riding. to be this close, that's an accomplishment, but I'm still disappointed."
Both candidates ran some excellent campaigns, and the polls really reflect that.
With a difference of less than 500 votes making the decision, it shows that both candidates put in massive efforts to win the votes of the people of Dauphin.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
An ongoing investigation in the RM of Gimli has led to the discovery of tens of thousands of dollars of stolen property.
inspector Brent Lemieux notes that this is the second time in a month that RCMP officers have recovered tens of thousands of dollars worth of stolen property
The search of a property in the RM of Gimli resulted in the seizure of a snowmobile, multiple trailers, construction equipment, a camper, firearms, cash, cocaine, and other controlled substances. Some of the recovered property had been reported stolen from multiple locations across southern Manitoba.
Officers arrested 48-year-old Michel Verrier, from the RM of Gimli, and remanded him into custody on charges including Possession of Stolen Property, Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, and numerous firearms-related offences.
A 48-year-old female and a 30-year-old male, both from Winnipeg, were arrested on scene and released for a later court date.
The investigation continues.
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- Contributed by Michael Brossart
Besides losing their position as the province's government, last night's election was also costly for the Progressive Conservatives in terms of former cabinet ministers that went down to defeat.
A total of five former Manitoba PC Cabinet ministers - all from Winnipeg - lost their seats to NDP rivals.
The biggest name was former health minister Audrey Gordon, who lost her Southdale seat to NDP rookie Renée Cable.
Meanwhile, another NDP newcomer Mike Moyes took the Riel seat away from two-term MLA and recent minister of families Rochelle Squires.
Other former cabinet ministers defeated last night included government services and consumer protection minister James Tietsma in Radisson, environment and climate minister Kevin Klein in Kirkfield Park, and mental health and community wellness minister Janice Morley-Lecomte in Seine River.
Morley-Lecomte originally hails from the Cayer area.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Votes have been cast, and the results are in.
Manitoba has voted in an NDP majority government, making Wab Kinew Manitoba’s first-ever First Nations Premier.
In the Dauphin riding, it was a neck-and-neck race that ran quite late, but it also ended with an NDP victory.
MLA-elect Ron Kostyshyn notes that the win was not without a great deal of effort.
"I did my best and I put in a 120 per cent effort into the constituency to try and have people support me. And I guess at the end of the day it is their judgment."
The night went much later than either party expected, as the tabulation of votes did not finish until well after midnight.
NDP Campaign Manager David Howe was a little caught off guard by just how late the Dauphin riding tabulation took.
"I think the election was run reasonably well, but I am a little disappointed with the tabulating machines. I have seen it done in Ontario where it takes minutes to report and you have a government declared 20 minutes into the night amd most seats are declared within half an hour. I am totally shocked that this process was slower than counting by hand ."
The race was rather long in the riding, and while the PC party didn't win, local Campaign Manager Miles Meyer said their efforts certainly made it exciting.
"I knew it was going to be a tight race. I think that the polls said the NDP would win (Dauphin) in a landslide but I think we put the work in to at the very minimum make this very close. And I think it is a matter of who came out to vote."
Local PC candidate Gord Wood says his campaign efforts gained a lot of support.
"I have to say thank you to the constituents of Dauphin and the area. I appreciate the support they gave us, the kind words, and the excitement that people got behind us. So we will take that as small victories and we will move on."
With all 46 polls reporting, Kostyshyn had 4,810 votes, compared to 4,467 for Wood.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Out in the fields, harvest is maintaining its momentum according to the weekly Manitoba crop report.
The province is 12 percent ahead of the 5-year average, with most spring cereal crops finished up.
in the northwest region, the mid to low 20's temperature and lack of frost kept harvest moving along, until the rain of the weekend rolled in grinding things to a halt.
both spring wheat and canola are nearing completion, but the is some concern around soybean crops, as the late-season rain is preventing them from drying down.
Overall, harvest is 85 percent complete, and crops are primarily in fair to mostly good conditions.
Tune in to the noon-hour edition of Agri-view for a more in-depth look a the Manitoba Crop Report.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
While the Dauphin riding did switch from Tory blue to NDP orange last night, the same could not be said for other neigbouring ridings.
Rick Wowchuk earned a third straight term as MLA for Swan River, as the PC candidate earned nearly 63 per cent of the vote to finish well ahead of Andy Maxwell of the NDP and Don McKenna of the Keystone Party.
Meanwhile, both Greg Nesbitt in Riding Mountain and Jodie Byram in Agassiz also had convincing wins for the PC's, with both garnering close to 64 per cent of the vote in their respective ridings.
The race in Interlake-Gimli was a little tighter, but in the end, it was incumbant PC Derek Johnson who won that riding by around 680 votes over his NDP rival.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
While Manitoba New Democrats are celebrating their return to power in the province and the election of Canada's first-ever First Nations provincial premier, both the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals will begin the search soon for new leaders.
Despite winning her seat in Tuxedo, Heather Stefanson announced her plans to step down as PC party leader after her party was reduced to opposition status in the Manitoba Legislature.
Stefanson won a party leadership race in 2021 to take over from the retiring Brian Pallister.
Dougald Lamont stepped aside from the Liberal top job after his party was reduced to just one seat in the legislature.
Lamont himself lost his seat in St. Boniface to the NDP.
The NDp were unofficially elected or leading in 34 ridings as of early Wednesday morning, while the Progressive Conservatives held 22 seats.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
Dauphin constituency (46 out of 46 polls reporting)
Ron Kostyshyn (NDP) 4810
Gord Wood (PC) 4467
Swan River constituency (42 out of 45 polls reporting)
Rick Wowchuk (PC) 5214
Andy Maxwell (NDP) 2522
Don McKenna (Keystone) 413
Riding Mountain (50 of 53 polls reporting)
Greg Nesbitt (PC) 4787
Wayne Chacun (NDP) 2378
Eileen Smerchanski (LIB) 331
Agassiz (34 of 35 polls reporting)
Jodie Byram (PC) 4403
Danica Wiggins (NDP) 1516
Mark Wilson (KEY) 698
Richard Davies (LIB) 305
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
A 28-year-old man from Scanterbury has been charged following a two-vehicle crash just east of Dauphin on Friday night.
RCMP say it happened around 7:30 pm at the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway 20A.
They add a southbound black Chevrolet pickup truck failed to stop at the intersection and collided with an eastbound blue Chevrolet SUV.
All five people in the SUV were transported to the hospital with injuries and subsequently released.
The driver of the truck was also treated in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
He was subsequently charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm and was released from custody pending a future court date.
No word on if the female passenger in the truck was injured as a result of the crash.
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The campaigning is now complete, and now it is time for the residents of Manitoba to decide who will form their next provincial government.
Here in the Dauphin constituency, voters have a choice between two candidates in this election.
Gord Wood is looking to hold onto the riding for the Progressive Conservatives.
"I will be exhausted when this is all done. There has been a lot of door-knocking and a lot of visiting and events and things like that, but it certainly has been an exciting process. I have learned a lot and met a lot of people and have had lots of great conversations with people. But I am excited to where our PC team can take our region and the province, so I am really hoping for the best outcome."
For his first foray into provincial politics, Wood says it was everything he expected it to be.
"Everything and More yes! It was certainly a learning experience for me and it was good to see the behind-the-scenes of the operations. So certainly I will be very excited for when Tuesday comes, but a lot of nerves as well."
Wood is opposed by former MDP agriculture minister Ron Kostyshyn, who also says the campaign went as they expected it to go.
"We put on 16,000 km and made sure I had the chance to visit all the people in the constituency. A number of questions have always come up and it sounds like people are concerned after seven years of the PC government. People are not happy about what has happened in the last seven years."
Kostyshyn adds he is not taking anything for granted going into today.
"I think what we have heard from the general public is that obviously, the record shows that health care is a disaster. The education component has got its challenges and I think we are going to be dealing with additional issues when we talk about settlement of contracts. Addressing the crime issue I think there is no doubt in our mind that we all witness this almost on a daily basis. And the jail closure obviously was a major economic downgrade."
Polls are open from 8 am until 8 pm tonight.
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Today is election day in Manitoba.
Mike Ambrose with Elections Manitoba says polls will be open from 8 am to 8 pm today.
"Anyone at the polls waiting in line by 8 pm will still get the chance to vote. Voters should bring ID. They will need to show either one piece of government-issued photo ID with their address, something like a driver's licence, or any two other pieces of ID. One of those could be their voter information card."
In the Dauphin constituency, voting takes place at the following locations :
(Alphabetically by community)
Something brand new for this election - Voters can now vote at any polling place in their electoral division on election day. Once there, voters will cast their ballot on a first come, first served basis.
You can go online to www.electionsmanitoba.cam or call 204-945-3225 to find out where the nearest polling station is to you.
"We will be using vote counting machines. So voters will bring their paper ballot to the ballot box and the voting officer will put it into the vote counting machine. Then at the close of voting, the voting officer will run a report out of those machines, and that will produce the tally at the end of the night. Some voters will still be using the manual style ballot boxes, and those will be hand counted."
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
