Oh what a memorable Tuesday night, to see how the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives covered most of the seats with blue, making the NDP orange on the sideline, and the Liberal red, a minority. Unbelievably, the Tories won a whopping 41 seats, NDP, a meager 13, and surprisingly, the Liberals had 3 seats, with 2 newly elected candidates from 1, Jon Gerald of River Heights. The Green Party of Manitoba was shut out of Tuesday’s election.
That Tuesday night, the surge of Tory Blue tossed out many NDP cabinets and saw the changing color of the political landscape in Central Manitoba, with Tories claiming the whole electoral area: Eastern Manitoba with the total of 7, Western Manitoba with 7, and Brandon East and West. As the news media reported, “The scale of the victory of 61-year old Tory leader Brian Pallister led his party to, is unheard of in Manitoba politics. Not only is it the largest seat count ever but possibly the highest share of popular vote ever,” wrote Larry Kusch of the Winnipeg Free Press. And Joyanne Pursaga of the Winnipeg Sun wrote “The Progressive Conservative scored a landslide victory Tuesday night and were on track to possibly tie or even break the record for the most seats claimed by a single party.”. Other broadcast media had validated the historic win of the Tories.
Thus, it ended the 16 years of NDP fatigue. And it ended its “cut! cut! cut! black propaganda”,
and the tagline: The NDP builds; Conservative cuts!
And the Liberals, under current Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari, ended with a bang for another 2 newly-elected Liberals, namely, Cindy Lamoureux who defeated Melanie Wight in Burrows, and Judy Klassen of Kewatinook, an upnorth riding.
Former party leader Jon Gerrard, who was the party’s lone MLA before the election was called, was re-elected in his constituency of River Heights in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
And the Tuesday night celebration became a memorable event when Jon Reyes, the first Canadian- born of Filipino parents, won the St. Norbert Riding, outdistancing NDP Dave Gaudreau who was openly critical of PC leader Premier Greg Salinger.
“I’m I dreaming, please pinch me to wake me up!”, Jon Reyes said before he addressed his Jon Reyes team, led by hard working Canadians and volunteers, at his headquarters where TV large screen had started painting Manitoba’s political landscape in blue and where you would find out the volunteers coming from the various ethnic communities.
“This is a part of my journey, from our simple family beginning when my parents immigrated in the late 60’s, to the challenges and an opportunities given to us through hard work, and to our passion to serve others, and to be visible always in the various events and activities, my winning is only the beginning of my commitments to serve our community and our province. I will be your voice in the government,” Jon Reyes said as the Jon Reyes Team and the volunteers were jubilant for his win and the surging tide of blue!
And everyone is hoping that Jon Reyes will be more visible to the various communities and be engaged regularly with his constituents.
“My constituents voted for a big change, for a better Manitoba, and for a much better benefits for my St. Norbert constituents,” he added with a grin. And he personally thanked his supporters and volunteers who helped him to win the hearts of the voters in St. Norbert riding.
Aida Champagne, another passionate leader in the community and who, with the help of other dedicated Filipino volunteers, founded the Manitoba Filipino Street Festival, and a dedicated former president of the Filipino Seniors group, did not make it at her first attempt as a Liberal candidate for Tyndal Park Riding. In her Facebook, she wrote: “For the past few months, as I embarked on a new challenge in life, I got to know a lot of people who supported me and stood by me through good times and bad times. These people even set aside their personal lives to give unconditional love and support. Words are not enough to show my appreciation and gratitude to all of you. Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.”
Hoping for a much better Manitoba as envisioned by the Premiere-designate Brian Pallister when he said to the jubilant crowd of supporters at Canad Inns: “Welcome back former Manitobans to our province.”
