The issue of strategic voting caused a few tense moments at a town hall forum Thursday night.
The forum was held at Riverview Community Centre and more than 100 attended.
All candidates were invited, but Conservative incumbent Joyce Bateman did not attend.
Green Party candidate Andrew Park filled her chair with a rubber chicken that had a Conservative logo drawn on it.
Park was joined at the forum by the NDP’s Matt Henderson and the Liberal’s Jim Carr.
One of the first questions asked was about strategic voting, and the possibility of vote-splitting amongst left-leaning parties.
All three candidates said that concern was raised by constituents during door knocking, and all three said they did not support it.
“I never make the argument, when I am going door to door, to people that they should vote strategically,” said Carr.
Park called it a distraction and said people should vote for what they want.
“There are key strategic differences between the parties,” he said.
Henderson said people can’t be feared into voting second best.
“This is a democracy and we should be able to vote with conviction,” said Henderson.
In the last election, Conservative Joyce Bateman won by only 722 votes.
The electoral boundaries of Winnipeg South Centre were recently shifted to include Lindenwoods in the riding.
This will be the first election with the new boundaries, and could make a tight race even closer.
“I think if you look at the different components of it, Lindenwoods will bring that more blue area,” said voter Michael Kleiman.
Regardless, Kleiman said he plans to vote strategically for the candidate he thinks will beat Bateman.
