MPs Niki Ashton and Rob Clarke are reapplying for their jobs as northern Manitobans and Saskatchewanians enter federal election mode.
Ashton, MP for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski (formerly just Churchill), and Rob Clarke, MP for Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, will be on the ballot for the October 19 vote.
At Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s request, parliament was dissolved on Sunday, August 2, marking the start of a 78-day campaign – the second longest in Canadian history.
In Ashton, the New Democrats have a proven winner with nearly seven years of parliamentary experience and ample name recognition.
In the last election, in 2011, the former college instructor captured Churchill with 51 per cent of the vote, besting her first win in 2008 by four percentage points.
Ashton served as the NDP’s Status of Women critic, and then Aboriginal Affairs critic, in the last parliament. Women’s issues, First Nations challenges, poverty, and federal service reductions are among her chief concerns.
She has said she knows “how to take on Stephen Harper,” but just whom she will face as Harper’s candidate is a mystery. As of yesterday morning, the Conservative Party website did not list a candidate for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski.
The Liberals, who won the riding as recently as 2006, will attempt to retake it with Winnipeg-based educator and community development worker Rebecca Chartrand.
A biography of Chartrand on the Liberal Party website calls her “a leader of Aboriginal education” who “believes in the need for a sustainable future where all Canadians have access to immediate health care, affordable housing and food, accessibility to jobs, and to local and global economic markets.”
Chartrand is also the founder and current executive co-chair of the Council for Aboriginal Education in Manitoba, a volunteer organization that helps advance Aboriginal education in the province.
Carrying the Green Party banner in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski is August Hastmann, who according to a party bio has spent the past 15 years teaching throughout northern Manitoba. He currently teaches in Split Lake.
“He has seen first-hand the overwhelming need in these communities for everything from roads to education funding, housing to water and sewage infrastructure,” read the bio.
A major concern for Hastmann is the destruction of northern Manitoba forest by companies such as Manitoba Hydro, added the bio.
In the northern Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, Clarke is asking voters to send him to Ottawa for the fourth time in less than eight years.
He first captured the seat in a March 2008 by-election, winning by 16 points over his nearest opponent, but in 2011 only squeaked by the NDP’s Lawrence Joseph by 794 tallies.
A former Mountie, Clarke has been a staunch defender of Conservative policies. He is perhaps best known for a private member’s bill that last year repealed the Indian Act, which he called paternalistic.
Clarke is the founding member and chair of the Conservative Aboriginal Caucus and serves as a member of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
Just as he did in 2011, Clarke will face off against Lawrence Joseph, who is now running for the Liberals.
A Liberal Party bio said Joseph has always been a “non-partisan politician” and that he promises to be “a strong voice in Ottawa” for the vast riding.
A former Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chief and two-term alderman for Prince Albert, Joseph “knows first-hand that progress is made when people come together for respectful and meaningful dialogue,” read the bio.
“He believes that as a nation, we need to invest in our young people and build an education infrastructure that benefits all, and he is dedicated to giving Canadians and all residents of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River a fair chance at shaping their own futures.”
Running for the NDP is Georgina Jolibois, who has served four terms as mayor of La Loche, a northern Saskatchewan village.
Her time as mayor brought “significant growth” to the community as a town-owned construction company built over 600 houses and extensive roadways, according to a party bio.
The bio describes Jolibois as “a strong advocate for restorative justice and youth circles,” as she served nine years on the RCMP’s Saskatchewan Aboriginal Advisory Committee.
In that role, she worked with law enforcement and other community partners to build safer communities in the North, added the bio.
Warren Koch, an RN and trained psychiatric nurse who lives in La Ronge, is the Green Party candidate.
Koch “wants to support his neighbours, build up strong communities with clean water and beautiful parks, and ensure our children are able to eat the fish they catch for generations to come,” according to a party bio.
The bio said the Green Party’s values line up with those Koch follows as an RN: “being open, honest, transparent, and accountable.
“He looks forward to building a better brighter future for his young family.”
