Party leaders make last effort to reach voters before election day

PC Leader Brian Pallister, Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari and NDP Leader Greg Selinger spent the final day of the campaign trying to win over undecided voters ahead of the election on Tuesday.

A recent poll estimates about 19 per cent of voters are still undecided.

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Greg Selinger met with voters in Selkirk, Man. and then with voters in south and southwest Winnipeg on Monday, he said.

"The most important thing is to continue to connect with people and encourage people to go out and vote," said Selinger.

The NDP leader brushed off a recent lawsuit filed by OmniTrax Canada against the government of Manitoba, Selinger and long-time NDP MLA Steve Ashton, saying "government officials" will deal with it.

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"They've already said they think there is no basis for that based on some of the early work they've done. [The lawsuit] is entirely up to the government to handle," said Selinger.

Rana Bokhari said she spent the last day of the campaign making calls and door knocking. Bokhari also spoke with reporters in Fort Rouge, the constituency she hopes to represent in the legislature.

She said meeting people "energizes" the team.

"That's the great part, we're still enjoying that," said Bokhari.

PC Leader Brian Pallister spent the final day of the campaign in northern Manitoba. He visited First Nations voters in Garden Hill and St. Theresa Point, as well as voters in the Pas.

"Yes, this isn't traditional conservative territory but I think we want to make it clear to everybody that a vote for the Progressive Conservatives is something that is valuable to us and is something that can be done in any riding," PC candidate Kelvin Goertzensaidof Pallister's choice to travel north.

Manitoba political analyst Paul Thomas said a leader's decision where to be on the last day of campaigning is not made lightly.

Thomas said Pallister could be in the north because he has a shot at winning over voters or he could be avoiding media interviews after CBC revealed he spent 240 days to or travelling to Costa Rica since he was elected in 2012 and has two businesses in the Central American country.

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"They must be worried if that media story continued right up to voting day that some of the undecided voters perhaps, maybe leaning conservative, might be turned off by the revelations he spent his money and some time outside Manitoba," said Thomas.

The challenge for all three leaders now, said Thomas, is to get voters to the pollsespecially the undecided ones.

"That's a huge factor in determining the final outcome of the election," he said.

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