De Groot gets Tory nod in Assiniboia

Stepping up again after unsuccessful civic campaign

Kelly De Groot has tossed her hat into the ring as the PC candidate nominated to contest the Assiniboia constituency in the next provincial election.

It will be De Groot’s second attempt at office after going down to Grant Nordman in St. Charles in October’s municipal elections.

The seat is expected to be a hotly contested battle.

In 1999, NDP MLA Jim Rondeau was narrowly elected to power by a mere three vote margin.

But in 2003, he shored up support, more than doubling his closest PC rival’s votes, as part of the the NDP’s historic sweep of 35 seats, the largest majority since the Tories won 36 seats in 1959.

But De Groot said throughout her civic campaign she learned people are ready for change at a provincial level.

If change is in the air, De Groot is hoping to tap into it and topple Rondeau, who is also the minister of science, technology, energy and mines.

“The people of Assiniboia are tired of seven years of NDP power,” said De Groot.

“There’s more to politics than turning up and shaking hands. It’s about making a difference in people’s lives.”

De Groot trotted out the ever-popular and familiar key issues as her main platform: infrastructure, public safety and economic performance, pointing out the current government hasn’t done enough on these fronts to warrant another term.

And she would also like to see more tax cuts and address migration from the province.

De Groot’s only elected experience was as a school trustee for St. James-Assiniboia School Division.

Ron Marshall, who worked with De Groot as a school trustee for four years, said she’s a good campaigner because she managed to unseat an incumbent of 35 years, Aidan Conklin.

Even though Marshall doesn’t identify himself as a PC, he praised De Groot’s intelligence, communication skills and abilities as a politician.

“She’s a very personable person,” said Marshall.

“I had no run-ins with her and she’s a very quick study. She’s quick to understand what’s going on and what it takes to be a good politician. She’s figured out what’s most important – and that’s hard work.”

But he said she will have a fight on her hands to succeed against the incumbent.

“It might make for a very interesting election because Mr. Rondeau is pretty popular too.”

De Groot joins Jennifer Zyla and Trudy Turner as unsuccessful civic contenders vying for a seat in the legislature for the PCs, however De Groot is the only formally nominated candidate at this stage.

Calls to the Liberal party were not returned as of press time.