Fort Whyte Byelection

The provincial byelection for Fort Whyte has been set for September 4. It comes on the heels of NDP hinting they had no idea when a good election time would be for the area. It seems they decided that a possible victory for the Progressive Conservatives might be better before the fall legislative session lest it give the new leader Brian Pallister additional publicity that he lacked from no leadership contest.

In the background, the NDP quickly announced funding for a 65 daycare spaces in the Whyte Ridge riding, chose a loyal NDP footworker from Fort Rouge in Brandy Schmidt, expunged her Twitter account and any other online presence and have set her out with a fullly supported team. Quite possibly they are looking for a steal here in the dead of summer.

Fort Whyte has hosted a long line of Tory leaders. It is hard to imagine the politics in the area has changed all too much although the NDP have successfully won suburban seats elsewhere.

Could cynical politics win the riding? What else might we expect? A community club, a school or does Greg Selinger think desperate parents in Whyte Ridge in need of daycare will reward them with another backbench NDP member?

The Liberals have not offered up a candidate yet. The last time was a young candidate. It is hard to have someone step forward when the riding has voted almost 60% Progressive Conservative.

The Conservatives could make this much more than the just a byelection. It certainly would help raise the profile of their new leader who many people will not know well.

It is hard not to think the NDP are laughing at how this has turned out and are planning their next majority win three years from now.