McFadyen wins decisive victory in Manitoba's Tory leadership race

Hugh McFadyen has been named the new leader of Manitoba's Progressive Conservative party after winning 67 per cent of the votes in the first ballot in a leadership vote.

McFadyen, 38, is an experienced navigator of the backrooms in the province's political scene, having acted as a senior adviser to former premier Gary Filmon and Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.

After his win was declared on Saturday evening during a leadership convention in Winnipeg, McFadyen immediately set his sights on ousting Premier Gary Doer and his NDP in the next provincial election, expected in 2007.

"Friends, tonight we begin our journey toward that victory," McFadyen told about 500 cheering party faithful at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. "We will win by uniting our party and our caucus, we will win by recruiting the best candidates we can find and we will win with fresh ideas."

More than 9,000 of the province's 14,000 Tories cast their ballots in the vote to replace Stuart Murray, who stepped down after receiving only lukewarm support at the party's annual general meeting in late 2005.

McFadyen took 6,091 votes, or 67 per cent of the 9,143 cast far ahead of Ron Schuler with 1,953, or 21 per cent, and Ken Waddell with 1,099, or 12 per cent.

But McFadyen reached out to his competitors, bringing them onstage with him and inviting them to channel their energy into new ideas that will embolden the party.

'It's a new generation'

Filmon, who left politics after losing an election to Doer, was clearly delighted with the result.

"He has a clear mandate, obviously," said Filmon. "It's a new generation and a new opportunity for the party."

He joked that the two politicians will reverse their roles in future. "I'll be his adviser," he told the CBC's Leslie McLaren.

A recently elected member of the legislative assembly for the riding of Fort Whyte, McFadyen entered the race in late February during a meeting in Winnipeg's St. James area, where he grew up.

McFadyen a father of two waged a slick and professional campaign aimed at younger voters.

He told delegates at the convention that he wanted to unite the caucus and the party, recruit strong candidates, keep young Manitobans at home, restore optimism on the farm and win back seats in Winnipeg, a socialist stronghold.

"Give me your vote and together we'll restore in our young people the certainty that Manitoba's best days are yet to come," McFadyen said.

His website shows a young, unassuming man leaning against a door frame wearing a T-shirt and sweater. The catchphrase comes straight out of the marketing textbooks: "New day. Winning day. Join the winning way today."

Attacks NDP's financial management

In his early speeches, he criticized the current regime for what he called a long record of failure.

"Our health-care system is the worst in Canada, and a remarkable achievement for a government that was elected six years ago to fix health care," he said.

"Our safety has been shattered, from Main Street in Winnipeg to Main Street, Manitoba, our streets are crumbling and our colleges and universities aren't able to keep up with those in the provinces that surround us."

He also attacked the NDP's financial management of the province.

"The mismanagement of our hard-earned tax dollars, whether be it for Crocus, for the [Workers Compensation Board], Hydro and other examples, show us that the NDP can't be trusted to manage the finances of our province. The end result is the migration of talented and energetic young people out of Manitoba."

'Call me a social conservative'

Of the three candidates, Waddell was seen as the farmers' candidate. In his speech to the delegates Friday, he emphasized his rural roots and the need to revitalize the beleaguered agriculture sector.

He described himself as a Christian candidate, with fiscal and socially conservative views.

"Yes, I've been called a social conservative," said Waddell, a 58-year-old former mayor of Neepawa who now runs a newspaper.

"If that means that I don't think same-sex marriage is a good idea, and I have the privilege to believe that, and I don't think that abortion is a good idea, especially if adoptions are available in place of it, and I don't think euthanasia is a good thing, then please call me a social conservative."

Schuler, 43, is a former businessman and school trustee. He criticized the NDP government for letting highways crumble, for letting the provincial debt rise to $21 billion and for leaving young Manitobans without hope and opportunity.

"Our children are going to look at our highways, our health-care system and our education system and they're going to say to us, 'Is that the best you as a generation could do for us, for $21 billion?'" Schuler told the delegates.