Manitoba Liberals fail to field full slate of candidates in 2023 election

Only two Manitoba political parties are running a full slate of candidates in this fall's provincial election.

When nominations closed on Monday, the Progressive Conservative Party and New Democratic Party were able to field candidates in every one of Manitoba's 57 constituencies.

The Liberal Party of Manitoba ended up with 49 candidates, eight shy of the full slate the party fielded in the 2019 general election.

During the summer, the party expected to run a full slate this year as well.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said it's a struggle for every party to find someone to run in every seat and no party throws all of its campaign resources into every constituency, anyway.

"If you look at the candidates we have and you match them up against the candidates the NDP and the PC have, we still have an incredibly strong slate of candidates who can win in many, many constituencies," Lamont said Monday in an interview.

"I regret that we didn't hit our target, but at the end of the day we have 49 really, really great candidates."

• Full coverage of the 2023 Manitoba election

Lamont also suggested the Liberals in particular have had trouble finding people to run in some rural areas because of the unpopularity of the federal Liberal Party in more conservative regions of Manitoba.

"There's a level of abuse and hatred that is targeted at Liberals, I think in a way that other parties simply don't experience," Lamont said.

"People are outright hostile in a way that they shouldn't be, so that makes it a challenge sometimes for people to get involved."

The Liberals are not the only Manitoba party to run fewer candidates this year. The Manitoba Green Partyis only running 13 candidates year, down 30 people from the 43-candidate slate it offered in 2019.

Green Party Leader Janine Gibson said she reached out to more than 500 prospective candidates this year, including former candidates, only to hear most wereunable to volunteer their time.

"I'm thinking it's the the stress of the times we're in," said Gibson, who became the party's new leader in March. "People are sharing so many health-care concerns and difficulty with their jobs and finances."

The Keystone Party of Manitoba, a new political entity for this election, is fielding five candidates. The Communist Party of Manitoba is also running five people.

There are also three independent candidates running in this election.

Overall, 189 candidates are nominated for the 2023 election. That's down 46 candidates from 2019, when 235 people ran.

Advance voting in the election runs from Sept. 23 to 30. This year, Manitobans may vote in advance at any advance-polling location in the province, said Mike Ambrose, Elections Manitoba's communications director.

As well, Manitobans can vote at any polling station in their constituency on election day, he added.

"What we're really trying to do is provide as many opportunities for voting, with as much convenience we can, to the voters," Ambrose said in an interview.

Also new this year in Manitoba is an electronic voting system, similar to the one the City of Winnipeg uses. Ambrose said it should yield results within an hour to 90 minutes after polls close.

The former paper system required more time to scrutinize and count votes.