Lathlin wins The Pas byelection to become Manitoba’s first aboriginal female MLA – Thompson Citizen
April 23, 2015
The NDP’s Amanda Lathlin won more than 50 per cent of the votes cast in The Pas byelection April 21 to fill the vacancy left when former MLA Frank Whitehead stepped down last year, but less than a quarter of eligible voters bothered to fill out a ballot.
Lathlin follows in the footsteps of her father the late Oscar Lathlin, who was elected as The Pas MLA five times. She received 1,557 of 2,757 votes cast, nearly twice as many as the Progressive Conservative candidate Jacob Nasekapow, who got 817 votes. Former Thompsonite Inez Vystrcil-Spence, the Liberal candidate, received 369 votes.
“I like to win and we didn’t and the NDP did,” Progressive Conservative leader and leader of the Opposition Brian Pallister told reporters April 22. “I want to congratulate our candidate for his great efforts and our team. We got a lot of really positive comments from people around the riding that we had been there a lot and that we have shown an interest in Northern Manitoba. That was something that they wanted to see. Our party is working hard and we’re a team, neither of which is happening with the government. We did good but we need to do better.”
