The Leader of the Green Party of Manitoba says last week Tuesday was still a positive day, even though the party failed to make history in our province.
No Green Party candidate has ever won a seat in the Manitoba Legislature. That streak continued in the latest general election.
Janine Gibson, who lives south of Steinbach, ran in Wolseley this time around. Gibson finished fourth in the voting, after collecting 544 votes, or 6.29 per cent. NDP candidate Lisa Naylor claimed 6,483 votes, or nearly 75 per cent of all votes.
Overall, the Green Party garnered 3,501 votes province-wide. That is down considerably from the 30,295 collected in the 2019 vote.
Gibson says they did not see the support they were hoping for, but notes they still received votes and she says that is positive.
"I really do think our Manitoba Legislature would benefit from somebody speaking about the need to ensure we have better food security," says Gibson. "And that means more support for our farmers and our food growers in times of what I say is a climate emergency."
However, she says they still have a message to share and there will continue to be opportunities to share that message. Gibson notes the NDP is talking about major changes to our health care system, which she says are needed. According to the Green Party, good health is based on clean water, adequate nutrition from local food and decent places to live.
Gibson admits that while on the campaign trail, she could sense that constituents were voting for the NDP. She says she sensed this because she was actively campaigning and talking with the voters in Wolseley.
"I could tell that it was an orange wave that was coming, and that's okay," she says. "It's up to the people, that's what democracy is all about."
Gibson points to a couple of constituencies in southeastern Manitoba, where things could have turned out better. She says she promised the people of La Verendrye that they would have a Green option on the ballot, but unfortunately, their candidate could not get the necessary signatures before the deadline. And then in Steinbach, candidate Gabrielle Simard-Nadeau withdrew at the last minute. Gibson explains that Simard-Nadeau withdrew because of some mistakes made in the registration process. Even still, Gibson says engaging young people is so important for a healthy democracy but requires a lot of mentoring and investment of time.
According to Gibson, there are certainly positives to take from this election. She says it was exciting to see so many Manitobans vote, particularly at advance polls. Gibson says it is also a good thing that Manitoba has a First Nations Premier, considering the high percentage of First Nations people living in our province.
Meanwhile, Gibson says she is definitely staying on as party Leader, noting she really only just barely started. Gibson notes there is a lot of work to be done to inform young people of the importance of taking care of the basics.
In order to enjoy more success in the next provincial election, Gibson says they will need to build the party from the ground up. She adds she is hopeful that there will be some strides taken towards proportional representation.
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