In a rough night for the federal NDP, the party held on to its seat in Winnipeg Central but lost its other two ridings in Manitoba.
In Elmwood-Transcona, NDP incumbent Leila Dance — who only took office last September in a byelection — was ousted by Conservative Colin Reynolds, while up north in Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, longtime NDP MP Niki Ashton was unseated after more than a decade-and-a-half in office.
Ashton was defeated Monday night by Liberal challenger Rebecca Chartrand, who told Global News her victory is just the beginning, with the real work still to come.
“We know we have a huge responsibility to continue holding space for all 67 communities and we want to deliver on that,” Chartrand said.
“I made it very clear that this wasn’t about making promises — this was about getting out there and listening to people and really trying to understand what’s important to people in terms of their challenges and aspirations.”
Chartrand says her team did a lot of door-knocking throughout the campaign, which she says will help her in Ottawa.
I think because we were able to really get out into communities and listen, I feel like I really have a good bird’s eye of the collective voice in this riding,” she said.
“We’re going to rely on that and we’re going to keep building on it because obviously there’s regional issues and aspirations, and we’re going to balance what it is people want and need throughout this riding.”
Churchill-Keewatinook Aski covers a massive but sparsely populated area — the northern four-fifths of the province — and had been held by Ashton since 2008, when she defeated then-Liberal incumbent Tina Keeper.
Hudson Bay Railway, Port of Churchill receive funding boost
