ANALYSIS: Manitoba Liberals could be the key in historic provincial election

Manitobas 43rd provincial election will officially get underway in the week ahead and when it concludes on Oct. 3, voters will have made history no matter if the incumbent Progressive Conservatives win or the opposition New Democrats sweep to power.

If the PCs prevail, Heather Stefanson will have become the first woman in the provinces history to lead her party to victory in a general election. She is already the provinces first female premier, having notched that accomplishment when she won her partys leadership after Brian Pallister resigned in 2021.

If the New Democrats form government, its leader, Wab Kinew, will become the first provincial premier in the countrys history who is an Indigenous person. (The countrys territories have had Indigenous premiers but no province has ever been led by an Indigenous person.)

This is Kinews second election as leader of his party and until the beginning of the summer, it looked like Manitobans would indeed make Kinew the next premier. But the only two public polls taken since the end of May show that Stefansons PCs have closed whatever gap existed.