Elizabeth May latest federal party leader to visit Manitoba during byelection campaigns

A visit to Winnipeg this weekend by the Green Party's Elizabeth May means the leader of every major federalist party in Canada has stopped in Manitoba in recent timesto stump for byelection candidates.

The Green Party leader, who presents the B.C. riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, spent Sunday taking part in Winnipeg's Pride parade and campaigning alongside Doug Hemmerling, her party's candidate in the Winnipeg South Centre by-election.

"He's a tremendous community member and committed father. He's a committed educator. He's been a guidance counsellor for a lot of the kids that we now see who are stepping up and getting involved," May said of Hemmerling, who's competing against People's party candidate Tylor Baer, Liberal Ben Carr, the NDP's Julia Riddell, Conservative Damir Stipanovic and dozens of independent candidates in the Winnipeg riding.

"Byelections are perfect chance to send a message," she added, imploring Winnipeg South Centre residents unhappy with inaction on climate change to vote Green without worrying about a change in government.

"It's really an opportunity for voters to have essentially a no-risk vote."

Voters in both Winnipeg South Centre and the mostly rural Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar will choose new MPs on June 19.

The pair of Manitoba byelections prompted a visit to Winnipeg in May by Prime Minister and Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDPLeader Jagmeet Singh followed suit last week.

Poilievre also visited Winkler, in thePortage-Lisgar riding, where the People's Party's leader is running against Conservative Branden Leslie, Liberal Kerry Smith, the NDP'sLisa Tessier-Burch and Green candidate Nic Geddert.

The only major federal party leader who hasn't visited Manitoba in recent weeks is Yves-Franois Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, which doesn't run candidatesoutside Quebec.

Though the federal Green party has never come close to winning a seat in Manitoba, Hemmerling said he was grateful to see May visit Winnipeg during a pit stop between her B.C. riding and Ottawa todrive home the importance of climate-friendly policies.

"Having Elizabeth May stop in reaffirms the fact we're on issue, and I hope Winnipeg South Centre is able to hear us," he said.