Frater Gary Doer Wins Re-Election as Manitoba Premier

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(WINNIPEG) -- NDP Leader Gary Doer (Zeta-Iota ’71) will remain Premier of Manitoba after winning a stronger second majority on Tuesday, leading his party to win more seats than ever before in the province.



A jubilant Mr. Doer celebrated his win Tuesday evening.

"We shall celebrate tonight. We should celebrate the 35 seats we were able to achieve in this campaign," he told supporters at a downtown Winnipeg hall. The record in the province was the 36 seats that Duff Roblin's Progressive Conservatives won in the 57-seat legislature in 1962. Mr. Doer did set a record for the NDP in Manitoba, eclipsing the 34 seats won by Howard Pawley in 1981.

All of Mr. Doer's cabinet ministers were re-elected.

The New Democrats picked up seats from the Opposition Progressive Conservatives, who won 20, down from 24 in the previous election. The Liberals increased their seats to two from one. The NDP held 32 seats at dissolution.

Mr. Doer said people preferred his plan for moderate tax cuts to the opposition parties' deep cuts.

Mr. Doer, a 55-year-old former union leader, ran a cautious campaign consisting of modest tax cuts and modest increases in health care and education spending.

Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton said he was "thrilled" to watch voters deliver Manitoba a crushing NDP majority.

"The resounding vote of confidence could be a wave that might flow across the country," Mr. Layton said from Ottawa.

Mr. Doer also received congratulations Wednesday from New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord. The Tory Premier also said Mr. Murray ran a good campaign, and noted with interest that Mr. Doer promised modest tax cuts.

He says that is not something you would expect to hear from the NDP or even the Liberals in New Brunswick, where voters go to the polls on Monday.

And Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper offered his congratulations to Mr. Doer Wednesday.

"On behalf of the Canadian Alliance and the Official Opposition, I extend congratulations to Premier Gary Doer and his team. We look forward to working with Mr. Doer on federal/provincial matters in the future."

June 5, 2003
From The Globe and Mail