Manitoba

St. Boniface gets polled on possible Erin Selby federal election run

Calls to St. Boniface from a Toronto-based polling firm are raising questions about MLA Erin Selby’s political future in the area.

Toronto-based polling firm calls St. Boniface residents about MLA Erin Selby in federal election

St. Boniface gets polled on possible Erin Selby federal election run

9 years ago
Duration 1:56
Toronto-based polling firm calls St. Boniface residents about MLA Erin Selby in federal election

Calls to St. Boniface from a Toronto-based polling firm are raising questions about MLA Erin Selby's political future in the area.

Wednesday night, several calls went out to St. Boniface residents polling them on how they felt about two federal candidates in the riding – Liberal candidate Dan Vandal and Conservative candidate Francois Catellier – and another: NDP MLA Erin Selby.

But Selby isn't an official candidate in the federal election. She's still sitting in the provincial legislature for the Manitoba NDP in the Southdale constituency.

Roger Turenne was surprised by the detailed questions about her potential candidacy.

"They asked whether the fact that Erin Selby was not as fluently bilingual as the other two candidates – would that influence your vote?" Would the fact that she's working hard to learn French, would that be a factor in deciding and so on," said Turenne.

Selby was the province's health minister before resigning from cabinet last year.

She was part of a group of five MLAs who resigned their cabinet seats in November 2014 citing "turmoil" and "grave concerns" about not being able to speak their minds in government.

Selby has not responded to requests for comment.