Kelly Bindle will once again be the Progressive Conservatives’ candidate for the Thompson constituency, party leader Brian Pallister announced June 28.
“Kelly has been a great representative for his constituents in Thompson,” said Pallister in a news release. “His record of public service makes him the best choice to represent the new constituency of Thompson. I look forward to working with him as we build a winning team that will continue to earn the trust of Manitobans in the next provincial election.”
Bindle ended long-time NDP MLA Steve Ashton’s 35-year-run as Thompson’s MLA in the 2016 provincial election and has served as legislative assistant to the Growth, Enterprise and Trade minister. He was a structural engineer with experience in the mining industry in Manitoba and Indonesia prior to his election and is also the owner of the Ripple Rock Meat Shop. The press release said Bindle is active with both the Thompson Humane Society and the Royal Canadian Legion in Thompson.
The PC candidate will run against NDP candidate Danielle Adams in the Sept. 10 provincial election. Adams has served as NDP MP Niki Ashton’s assistant for the past decade and defeated Thompson Teachers’ Association president Cathy Pellizzaro to win the party’s nomination back in May.
Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont said June 21 while in Thompson that the party doesn’t have a candidate for the electoral division yet but that a meeting to select one would be held in the coming weeks.
Churchill, Gillam, Nelson House and communities along the Hudson Bay Railway in the province’s northeast were taken away from the Keewatinook riding and added to the Thompson electoral division by the non-partisan Electoral Division Boundaries Commission at the tail end of 2018, while Cross Lake and Norway House were added to the Flin Flon electoral division.
The PCs say more nomination meetings and founding meetings for new or redrawn constituencies will be held in the coming weeks.
