Manitoba premier expected to launch campaign Tuesday for Oct. 3 election

WINNIPEG -- Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is expected to call an election Tuesday in a bid for a third consecutive Progressive Conservative majority.

WINNIPEG -- Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson is expected to call an election Tuesday in a bid for a third consecutive Progressive Conservative majority.

Opinion polls suggest it will be an uphill battle.

The governing Tories saw their poll numbers drop sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic as some patients had to be flown to other provinces due to a lack of beds. They also faced widespread public criticism over a plan to eliminate elected school boards under Stefanson's predecessor, Brian Pallister.

Stefanson, who took over after Pallister's retirement two years ago, immediately killed that plan. She also promised a more conciliatory approach than her predecessor and loosened the government purse strings after years of financial restraint.

One political analyst said Stefanson's approach has worked to some extent.

"She is a less divisive leader and recent initiatives have defused to some extent the anger that was attached to the PC government," Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said in an interview.

"It's not that people have completely forgotten, just that the intensity of the anger has subsided somewhat."