The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Manitoba government has introduced legislation that would eliminate the overlap between the 2015 fixed provincial election date and the federal election date. This proposal follows similar legislation recently passed in Saskatchewan. 'It's unfair to voters, and the many Manitobans who become active in our democratic process as volunteers, to have two elections at the same time,' said Government House Leader Jennifer Howard. 'That's why we've written to the prime minister to request that he change the federal election date. Our preference is to stick with a fall provincial election date but, if by January 2015 the federal government's election date has not changed, then there's a simple plan to eliminate the overlap.' Howard noted the next provincial election is to be held on Oct. 6, 2015, with a federal election less than two weeks after. Saskatchewan, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and the Northwest Territories all have elections at a similar time in 2015. The proposed legislation would specify that in the event of an anticipated overlap between provincial and federal election dates as of Jan. 1, Manitoba's provincial election would be postponed to the third Tuesday of April in the following year. As a result, the next provincial election would be on April 19, 2016. The following election date would revert to the fall, four calendar years later. _ Government of Manitoba
