Liberals poised to nominate former FMCC, Festival du Voyageur director in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital

The Liberal Party of Canada is poised to name the former director of the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre as the party's candidate in the Winnipeg riding of Saint Boniface-Saint Vital for the next federal election.

Ginette Lavack served as the director of the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre from 2017 until her resignation this week. She previously ran Festival du Voyageur.

Lavack was the only person to seek the party's nomination in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital before the nominations closed, riding association chair Theodore Mariash said Thursday.

The federal party has yet to make her candidacy official. A formal announcement is expected during Festival du Voyageur, which begins this weekend.

Lavack said in an interview her 14 years in the cultural sector positions her to advocate for Franco-Manitoban cultural institutions.

Approximately 12 per cent of the population in the riding listed French as its mother tongue during the 2016 subcensus, according to Statistics Canada. Approximately 22 per cent of the riding spoke French and identified ethnically as French in the same survey.

The riding is currently represented by Liberal MP Dan Vandal, who is not seeking re-election. A general election must be held in Canada this year and may take place as soon as this spring.

Lavack said she saw Vandal's retirement from politics as an opportunity to seek public office, even though polls suggest the Liberal Party is likely to lose power to the Conservatives.

"Maybe the work is a little bit harder if we're not the ones in in power, but we can hold whatever government is there in power to account," she said.

Since its formation in 1925, what is now called Saint Boniface-Saint Vital has only been represented by MPs from the Liberal Party and conservative parties. The Liberals have won 27 of 32 elections over the past century.

The Conservative Party of Canada has yet to select a candidate in the riding for the upcoming election. The party has not responded to queries about the timeline for its nominations.

The New Democratic Party has selected Thomas Linner, who served as a spokesperson for the Manitoba Health Coalition during the COVID-19 pandemic, as its candidate in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital.

Gilles Pelletier is running for the People's Party of Canada.