Branden Leslie, the current Member of Parliament for Portage-Lisgar and Conservative candidate in the 2025 Canadian Federal Election was quick out of the gate, immediately announcing his intentions to run in the federal election now underway.
Leslie outlined his vision for a stronger, more self-reliant Canada. Leslie discussed improving water infrastructure, modernizing workforce training, tackling economic challenges, and enhancing public safety, all while defending the values of rural communities.
Upgrading water infrastructure
Q: What can we expect you to support to improve water infrastructure throughout the riding?
A: Over the last couple of years, I've had the chance to sit down with every town, city, and rural municipality across the riding and water is the number one issue for every single community. It can be different types of water—from drinking water to the underground infrastructure necessary for moving water or irrigation. It turns out, I'm a water MP, so it's been a top priority. What I like to focus on is that we talk about the need to build affordable housing for all our communities, but it entails the underground infrastructure necessary. We have communities like Morden that are frankly unable to have any more permits until they have reliable water and wastewater infrastructure. So, we need to invest in our communities because economic growth is often driven by water. Our Conservative government plans to work directly with municipalities and provinces to make sure that—where my job will come in is getting the money flowing to Manitoba, advocating to ensure it doesn’t just go to Winnipeg but gets outside the perimeter to make sure we have growing and thriving rural communities. The government needs to be a partner in local community development of industry so that we can have thriving communities. So, my job is to go to Ottawa and make sure that I shake the trees of the federal government and make sure that we get the necessary investments to work and partner with local communities.
Modernizing immigration and workforce training
Q: There have been persistent labor shortages in manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare. What will you be able to do from Ottawa to help the province modernize immigration and workforce training to better meet those local needs?
A: It's a huge issue right across the riding, and it's all types of labor—it could be very highly skilled labor or less skilled labor. This is about growth and setting ourselves up for future growth. One of the things we've talked about is creating a Blue Seal program—everybody's familiar with the Red Seal program for certain trades—expanding that to include things like nurses, engineers, and other types of highly skilled trades. The borders within Canada are very firm and we've seen a lot of talk about that lately with the US tariffs and the need for us to become more self-reliant and knock down those internal trade barriers. It's been talked about for decades and finally, I think we're at a point where people are going to demand that the provincial governments knock down those barriers. One of those is the movement of, say, nurses. When you're trying to attract nurses from other countries to come here, the accreditation—creating a blue seal will allow them to move across the country without those provincial borders being such a burden on them, getting the necessary accreditation and approvals for them to work within the system. Yesterday we just announced our leader, Pierre Poilievre, is retooling reeducation for skilled trades. So about $4000 per person—the Liberals are about to let the grant expire—to make sure that we have skilled training and we're going to support about 350,000 unionized workers through training hubs there. So again, we need to get back to what we know we are good at as a country. That's our natural resource sector, our agricultural sector. We need people who want to build things; the trades are no longer looked at as a lesser opportunity—you know, it used to be about universities and less about colleges and Polytechnique. We need to get back to basics, recognize we need to be a country that builds things again, and we need to make sure that we're training the labor market that exists in this country and bringing in those with specific skilled trades to fill the needs that we have. It's always going to be about growth. We've recognized that we have challenges in growth. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen essentially no economic growth. The GDP per person has been declining while other countries around the world are thriving. We need to be focused on growth and that's going to mean training people to build things again in this country.
Tariffs versus diplomacy
Q: With tariffs adding additional economic pressure, do you feel it's responsible to push for retaliatory tariffs, or do you think more diplomacy is necessary to avert a potential crisis?
A: The most important thing we can do, and I'm so glad it started today, finally, is have an election. My hope, obviously, is that we have a new Prime Minister, and a relationship reset with the United States. It's clear that Donald Trump does not like Justin Trudeau. He does not like Mark Carney, although he's recently said that he would prefer to deal with the Liberal—which is unsurprising because Canada has become so much economically weaker that we've seen an outflow of about $500 billion of investment in Canada, flow to the United States over the past 10 years. That's what the American President is wanting. So, the first thing we can do is have the election, get a government in place, and get Parliament functioning again. I think that the first step is having that relationship reset; hopefully, a future Prime Minister—the Conservative Leader is someone who can start the process to rebuild and focus on things that we are aligned on, like the security of our border—absolutely, continental security and frankly being a competitor to America. In the short term, I think we have to look at the best way to protect ourselves. It's been a wake-up call for many Canadians that we frankly became too reliant on the United States. It became far easier to ship North-South instead of East-West. We have all the ingredients to have an extremely strong economy and to be self-reliant. We just need to take advantage of it and, frankly, if we go down this path, we have the opportunity to be one of the richest countries in the world again—we've just lost the last decade under the Liberals. So, the first and most important thing is to get to this election, get a new Prime Minister, and start that relationship rebuilding. Recognizing that we have incredibly integrated economies between the United States and Canada, a tariff war—a prolonged tariff war—is going to be bad for both countries, is bad for consumers, and certainly not good for Canada. We need to be reasonable, rational, and targeted in any sort of retaliatory tariffs.
Addressing affordable housing
Q: Affordable housing remains a pressing issue for everyone. What steps would the Conservatives take to alleviate high housing prices and deflate the housing bubble?
A: Yeah, it's about building. In 1972, we built a little over 250,000 homes in this country. In 2022, we built a little over 250,000 homes, despite a vastly increased population—particularly in the last few years—and we have not kept up with supply. The simple supply and demand piece of it has meant that homes have become unaffordable. The dream of homeownership is, frankly, gone for the vast majority of young people across this country. The question always is: affordable housing for who? We have a massive middle class that is stuck paying rent because they can never save for a down payment. So, we're going to be removing the GST for new home builds to try to induce increased supply, taking care of that side of the equation, and also introducing a massive "bring it home" tax cut so that people actually come home with more money. Work is once again incentivized, and people can help themselves save. Right now, most people are living paycheck to paycheck; it is very, very difficult to save money. We've seen 37% faster rates of grocery store prices compared to the United States. Everybody goes to the grocery store and sees the food prices—it’s going to lead to a lot of negative health outcomes when you're almost forced to choose cheaper, less nutritious options because vegetables are frankly unaffordable. Combine all of the cost-of-living increases over the last 10 years with the staggering doubling of the cost of rent or buying a house, and it's not surprising. This is why it's so shocking to me that the Liberals have the gall to ask for a fourth term when we've seen all of this happen under their watch. It's insane to me.
Combating inflation in Manitoba
Q: Manitoba now has the highest level of inflation among all provinces and territories. What can you do as the MP for Portage-Lisgar, along with other MPs across the province, to help bring down inflation and make life more affordable for Manitobans?
A: The answer, I guess, is working with our provincial counterparts when we form government. Manitoba has a lot of opportunities, and we need to align ourselves with both the provincial and federal governments to enable, for example, homes to be built and mines to be developed. The permitting of both is where the government really stands in the way. As a Conservative, I suppose it's about finding ways to get government out of the way. People want to invest in themselves and their communities, yet the government often makes so many hurdles and obstacles that get in the way. By aligning ourselves and working with the current NDP government—or whoever is in power down the road—I think we ultimately share the same objectives, even if our political views differ on how to achieve them. I view myself as a collaborative individual regardless of political stance. I think it's important that we work for the betterment of Manitobans from the federal level across the country. Yes, inflation in Manitoba might be a bit higher than in the rest of the country, but we're facing a potential further economic decline if the current government remains in power. So, it starts with getting through the election, having Canadians mark their ballots, and hopefully choosing a new Conservative government that's focused on getting things built in this country and getting government out of the way.
Investing in healthcare and education
Q: Beyond housing, our rural communities need better access to healthcare, education, and high-speed Internet. What federal investments or partnerships would you champion to help deliver these services?
A: I'll start with healthcare, and healthcare and education are both within the province’s mandate. Broadly speaking, Ottawa collects the larger chunk of taxes and then sends it back to the provinces, who are in charge of delivery. I think it needs to be focused on outcomes—how quickly are we getting people through the system, how quality is the healthcare, how quality is the education, what are the statistical outcomes in terms of education, math and science, and English? Our investments need to be responsive to those outcomes. We're working with provinces to figure out the Blue Seal program for nurses and to move away from some of the agency nursing that's driving up the cost of delivery without necessarily improving services. The previous Harper government is a good reference for a conservative track record: we increased transfers to provinces by 6% year over year to deliver healthcare, ensuring consistent, stable funding. We’ll work with provinces on the Canada Health Act—even if they might prefer different service delivery models—but it has to be led by the provinces. I don't think we'll be afraid to use carrots and sticks to encourage or incentivize service delivery that leads to positive outcomes. Too often, Liberals are worried about the process. We need to be focused on outcomes.
Prioritizing crime and public safety
Q: Crime and safety are top-of-mind issues for residents—especially following the tragic death of Kelly Verwey. What concrete steps would a Conservative government take to prioritize public safety?
A: Yeah, I mean, this is something we've been talking about for years now. The Kelly Verwey situation raised the issue, at least locally, for many people, and unfortunately, her tragic death is not unique. This has been happening across the country. We have seen so many people released on bail. Now, the individual who caused the end of her life made his own personal decisions, but he simply should not have been allowed to be out on bail. The concrete side of this is, frankly, bail reform. It turns out, you can't commit more crimes if you're in jail. We have seen so many repeat and violent offenders simply be released, and I've talked to many police forces—RCMP and municipal—across the riding. One officer said to me in Portage, "If we could just get the 40 people that are the problem off the streets of Portage, the community would be that much better." That is going to be the focus: ensuring that there is actual jail time and not just releasing every single person on bail to let them go and commit another crime, while they laugh at the police knowing that there's no future punishment. We need stiff, real jail time for the problematic individuals in our communities. If you steal multiple cars multiple times, why should we assume you're going to stop? You need strong deterrence. The crime charts in this country were steadily going down until 2015 under the Harper government, when we had significant mandatory minimum sentences. Then the Liberals came in, repealed many of those measures, and changed the bail system—leading to tragic incidents like Kelly Verwey’s death here in Portage. Since 2015, the trend has been upward. There are also economic factors that push people towards crime. So, we need to fix this on both fronts. That's why one of our key pillars is to stop crime with a repeal of the current bail reform. Bill C-75, enacted by the Liberals, caused unfortunate tragedies here in Portage and across the country.
Easing pressure on the justice system
Q: Critics argue that the justice and jail systems are already overburdened. What would be the best step to stop crime while alleviating pressure on the justice system?
A: I often ask folks, when talking about crime, are you willing to have your tax dollars go to incarcerating someone who has caused victimization for you, your neighbour, or your family? And given the massive rise in crime we've seen, the answer is always yes. I'm very confident in Canadians' desire to see that people who commit crimes go to jail. We can work on alleviating the system by, for example, appointing judges more efficiently. The Liberals have been awful at appointing judges, and the court system is slowed down by the poor appointment process we've had. At the end of the day, I care more about protecting our communities. That's the role of government—we should be protecting our borders and our people. Right now, we have a justice system that is failing victims by putting the rights of criminals ahead of those who have been victimized.
Supporting small businesses and diversifying the economy
Q: Agriculture is the backbone of our local economy, but diversification is vital. What policies do you propose to support emerging industries and small businesses throughout Portage-Lisgar?
A: Yeah, I mean, you're right. Agriculture is—I'm a farm kid—pivotal to all the communities I represent, as well as the external value-added industries like the canola crush opportunities we have here, the Rockets, Simplot, and McCain’s. But you're right, we have a lot of people with an entrepreneurial spirit across our region—and frankly, across this country. They start thinking about starting a business, then see all of the regulations and red tape at every level of government that stands in their way. They do the math and realize they're not really incentivized because we have relatively high tax rates. In a location like ours, where we're 10 to 50 miles north of the border for most of our communities, it's a lot easier to set up shop in the United States or in other countries. We need to find ways to encourage that entrepreneurial spirit to take shape, which means investing in skilled trades and ensuring a reliable labour market. In terms of diversifying agriculture and other commodities, Canada has done a pretty good job—we have free trade agreements with most of the democratic world already. Not all those agreements are working as they should, but it’s high time we continue to foster relationships with countries to find external markets. For example, our oil and gas sector is a prime example; due to the federal Liberals' decisions to enforce their "leave it in the ground" ideology—even cancelling the Northern Gateway pipeline—we've been forced into having one market, with 100% of natural gas going to America (97% going to America, in fact). We need to focus on the tools necessary to ensure we have the rail and port infrastructure, and the ability to get big projects permitted quickly so that investors have confidence in our ability to diversify markets. It’s not just talk; we need to create the conditions for investment and ensure projects get built in this country.
Amplifying constituency engagement
Q: Rural ridings often feel that their voices are not heard. What do you plan to do as the MP for Portage-Lisgar to ensure Manitobans are represented, and will you take a more vocal role in Parliament?
A: Well, I'm pretty proud of the almost two years I've been elected here in our area. In that span, I've spoken more than half of my colleagues who have been here for four years. I've had many opportunities to raise my voice and people know me for being loud and firm. I'm going to continue doing that if given the chance after the election to go back to Ottawa. When I ran my nomination to become the Conservative candidate in the by-election, my entire pillar was defending our rural way of life—loudly and proudly. I’m going to continue that. With prorogation and Parliament being cancelled for the past couple of months, I've worked very hard over the last two years to cover our fairly large constituency. I’ve engaged with municipal leaders—the elected officials closest on the ground—attending community events, answering questions, and, importantly, listening. I believe I’m well equipped to be that loud, strong voice for rural Manitoba if given another term in Ottawa.
Building on a legacy
Q: Following in the footsteps of Candice Bergen, what achievements do you intend to build upon from her legacy, and what new priorities will you set for Portage-Lisgar?
A: Politics is often a team game, right? One of the frustrating parts of being in opposition is that it makes it very difficult. I try to be a collaborative person—I’ve formed relationships with current Liberal ministers to help with applications for not-for-profit organizations or infrastructure funds for our communities. It’s a lot easier in government, so I hope that from a team perspective, we’re given the chance to not just be opposing, but to actually be proposing solutions. Assuming we get that chance, it’s about undoing much of the damage we’ve seen both economically and in terms of safety. The fact that we no longer have safe streets, the legalization of hard drugs in BC, and radical experimentation, alongside policies like Bill C-69 that have hindered pipeline development, are all issues we need to address. It’s about defending our sovereignty in the face of American pressure. Our campaign is built around putting Canada first—a shocking mantra given the last 10 years, during which we were left weaker under Liberal tenure. Here in Portage-Lisgar, with our agricultural and natural resource base, we have tremendous growth opportunities. My job is to be an advocate for this region, ensuring we get our fair share of necessary investments in infrastructure so that our communities continue to grow and thrive.
Final election thoughts
Q: As the official campaign kicks off in 2025, do you have any final thoughts for listeners and readers?
A: Yeah, well, it's mid-afternoon and I've already knocked on 100 doors on day one of the campaign. Right after this, my team and I will be back out on doorsteps. Folks can expect to see me in communities—knocking on doors, sharing our positive Conservative message about being a country that once again builds things, builds up citizens and communities, defends our country, and puts Canada first. We're rolling out a lot of policies that I think people will be very excited by. Of course, if you share my vision for putting Canada first, we're going to need your vote on April 28th or at the advance polls on the preceding weekend. I look forward to the challenge, the opportunities, and to speaking with so many people over the next 30-plus days.