The Leader of the Green Party of Manitoba has announced her candidacy in the October 3rd provincial election. 

However, Janine Gibson, who lives south of Steinbach will not be running in her home constituency of La Verendrye. Instead, Gibson will be the Green candidate in the Wolseley constituency in Winnipeg.

Gibson explains that a number of people approached her saying that the Green Party needs to have a strong profile in the upcoming election and the way to do that is to have its strongest candidate running in Wolseley. Gibson says the party feels that she is their strongest candidate and that is what led to the decision.

But Gibson says she is no stranger to Wolseley. Gibson lived there prior to moving to southeastern Manitoba in 1990. She adds her children also attended school in Wolseley back in the day. 

"Of all the places in the city where my heart is connected, it is with Wolseley," admits Gibson. "That's where my children spent their younger years. That's where I raised them."

Gibson says she looks forward to this opportunity, noting Wolseley is where the Green Party of Manitoba has felt most of its support in past elections. Back in 2019, Green Party candidate David Nickarz took 36 per cent of the vote, losing by 917 votes. In the 2016 election, Nickarz also took 36 per cent of the votes and lost by 392 votes. 

Gibson has run in seven federal elections and four provincial elections. Provincially, she ran twice in Steinbach, taking five per cent of the vote in 2019 and four per cent in 2007. The other two times she ran in La Verendrye, claiming 10 per cent of the vote in 2016 and five per cent in 2011. 

According to Gibson, the goal would be to have Green Party candidates in all 57 constituencies. As of Monday afternoon, Gibson says they do not quite have 15 candidates confirmed. She says 57 candidates may not be a realistic goal, but they are mostly focusing their opportunities in Wolseley and setting up a mentorship program with young people interested in transforming Manitoba's political system. Personally, Gibson is hoping to become Manitoba's first ever Green Party MLA. 

Gibson says the values and basic policies of the Green Party of Manitoba include the creation of more green jobs, reforming our democratic process to ensure that every vote counts, ending poverty so that health care costs can be reduced and everyone can have their basic needs met and dignity for all. In rural Manitoba, Gibson says a lot more help is needed with transitions in our agriculture and a lot more support is needed for local production and local consumption. 

Meanwhile, Gibson says she is working with other potential candidates who could find their names on the October 3rd ballot in other constituencies in the southeast.

"I'm pleased with the people who are coming forward who want to be part of the Green Party who say this dynamic between the Conservatives and the NDP is not collegial, it's not problem-solving based," she says. "And as the Green Party we believe we all have important information to bring forward and we need to work together to solve our current issues in constructive teams."

 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, SteinbachOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the SteinbachOnline app.