The Manitoba government called byelections in two rural provincial ridings, including one which the province had been delaying in order to save money.
The province will hold byelections in the ridings of Morris and Arthur-Virden on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Nominations for the constituencies will close on Jan. 13, and advance polls will open Jan. 18 and close Jan. 25. The polls will remain open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on voting day.
The Morris seat has been vacant since February when Tory Mavis Taillieu retired. Under provincial law, byelections must be held within a year of a seat becoming vacant.
In November, Premier Greg Selinger said he was waiting for the outcome of two federal byelections in Manitoba, one of them in Brandon-Souris, where former provincial Tory Larry Maguire is running.
Maguire resigned his provincial seat in Arthur-Virden to run federally.
Selinger said he initially held off on calling the byelection in Morris because the legislature was in session. The spring sitting dragged on through the summer as the NDP and Tories battled over several bills, including the budget.
Selinger then said he wanted to hold both the Morris and Arthur-Virden byelections at the same time in order to save money. Elections Mantioba disputed this reasoning, saying each byelection is run separately by its own returning office.
The Progressive Conservatives announced in May that Sannon Martin will run for them in the Morris byelection.
- With files from Canadian Press
