Conservative candidate viewed as front-runner in Brandon-Souris, but NDP rival ready to make it a race

Jeff Keele reports on the last-minute candidate switch in Brandon – a federal riding seen as a traditional Tory stronghold.

The Conservative campaign office in Brandon was supposed to be for Larry Maguire, instead, Grant Jackson had to move in.

“So it was a pretty quick turnaround,” said Jackson. “We had to build a campaign team. Those are hard conversations to have with colleagues when a team member is leaving.”

Maguire was the Conservative MP in the Brandon-Souris riding and was expected to run again. But as the campaign was about to get underway, he had to step aside for health reasons.

The federal party then asked the provincial PC MLA from Spruce Woods, Grant Jackson, to take his place. Jackson said he didn’t have a lot of time to make a decision, but in the end he said yes.

“There’s a lot of issues right now with the federal government, the challenges that Canadians are facing,” said Jackson. “I think it’s very important to have a strong, younger voice for Brandon-Souris in parliament to make sure that we’re making progress for Wesman residents.”

The riding has Manitoba’s second-largest city and a large rural population.

Brandon University political science professor Kelly Saunders said the seat is a traditional Conservative stronghold.

“Certainly Grant Jackson, I think, is walking into the riding, into the election, as the front-runner, and he’s also got some name recognition as well,” said Saunders.

Don’t tell that to NDP candidate Quentin Robinson. He wants voters to remember he came just under one hundred votes short of winning the Brandon-West provincial constituency in 2023 for the NDP.

“Key to that is getting the message out of what’s important to people, and I believe that we have the message that’s important, connecting with people at a grassroots level,” said Robinson.

The musician is a retired farmer, United Church minister, and marriage and family therapist.

“I still want to be helping people through the challenges of life and there are lots of challenges of life right now that we know about.”

The Liberal candidate for Brandon-Souris is Ghazanfar Ali Tarar. Like his political rivals, he has a number of signs up across Brandon. CTV News was unable to reach him for an interview.