Conservative candidate’s union endorses NDP candidate in Winnipeg byelection

OTTAWA — More than a dozen labour leaders are endorsing the NDP candidate in an upcoming federal byelection in Winnipeg Thursday, including the business manager of the Conservative candidate’s own union.

The endorsements are a boost to the New Democrats’ efforts to maintain their stronghold in the riding of Elmwood-Transcona, where Conservatives are also vying for the support of the area’s blue-collar workers.

Thirteen unions representing millions of workers across Canada said they were uniting to support New Democrat candidate Leila Dance, the executive director of the Transcona business improvement organization, who formerly worked for Children’s Wish Foundation.

Among those throwing their support behind Dance is the business manager of the electrical worker union IBEW Local 2085, Dave McPhail. Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds has said he’s a proud member of that union.

Reynolds, a construction electrician, pitched to voters that the NDP does not represent union workers like himself.

“I’m a proud union member and a Conservative. I know that Sellout Singh and his coalition ally Justin Trudeau are bad for working men and women,” Reynolds said in a statement Thursday.

“That’s why I’m running with (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre who is fighting for hardworking Canadians with a common sense plan to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.“

The leader of his union felt otherwise.

In a statement provided through the NDP, McPhail said he was “proud” to join the list of labour endorsements for Dance, including the Canadian Labour Congress, Manitoba Federation of Labour, and the Winnipeg Labour Council.

The Conservative party didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Dance’s work with the Children’s Wish Foundation, which IBEW 2085 has long supported, “is proof of our aligned values,” McPhail said.

“I have the utmost confidence Leila will represent the people of Elmwood-Transcona with the same passion as former NDP MP, IBEW brother, and my friend Daniel Blaikie,” McPhail said.

The Blaikie family has been largely responsible for the NDP’s political fortunes in the Manitoba riding for decades.

Bill Blaikie held the seat for some 20 years, beginning in the late ’80s. The Conservatives won the seat in 2011 for a single term before his son Daniel took it back in 2015. He resigned the seat to join provincial politics earlier this year, triggering the byelection.

The Conservatives have come in second in the riding in the last several elections, and hope to win the seat when voters go to the polls in the fall.

“When voters in Elmwood-Transcona go to the polls on Sept. 16, I am hopeful they will return a New Democrat to build on the work of brother Blaikie,” McPhail said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was delighted by that particular endorsement, as it came days after the Conservative party launched new attack ads against him.

The Conservative ads accuse Singh of being an elitist and a “sellout,” who is preventing an election as part of a political pact with the government while the Liberals are down in the polls.

“We know whose side Pierre Poilievre is on. He’s on the side of the big bosses. He’s not on the side of the working people and the union leadership has shown that,” Singh said Thursday in London, Ont.

“So I am honoured, I’m humbled by that. I don’t take it for granted.”

Under Poilievre’s leadership, Conservatives intensified efforts to court the support of union workers, many of whom have traditionally supported New Democrats.

Some national union leaders have cautioned their members about supporting Poilievre, going as far as to say that while he borrows language from labour movements, he represents a threat to workers.

That includes Canadian Labour Congress president Bea Bruske, who has campaigned with Dance in Winnipeg and officially endorsed her on Thursday.

“The Conservatives think that running a candidate with a union card will erase their record of cuts to health care, attacks on affordable child care and votes to cut pensions,” Bruske said in a statement.

“But voters know better, the Conservatives will always side with billionaire bosses against workers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press