Former mayoral candidate Rick Shone named as new PC candidate in Fort Garry riding

A candidate who ran to be Winnipeg mayor last year is tossing his hat in the ring for the Progressive Conservatives in hopes of unseating an NDP incumbentin the coming provincial election.

Business owner Rick Shone said he has received an official party nomination and will run for the PCs in the Fort Garry riding this fall.

"I'm somebody who is really involved in the community here downtown, a lot of the social organizations and those kinds of things," he told CBC News on Monday. "But also from an economic and financial standpoint, I do align with a number of the policies that the PC party promotes."

Shone said he does not live in the Fort Garry riding but did when he first moved to Winnipeg. The party and Shone, 46, made it official on Wednesday at a small nomination event, he said.

Shone is owner of the outdoor equipment retailerWilderness Supply.

Lessons from campaign trail

With 1.3 per cent of the vote, Shone lost hismayoral bid to Scott Gillingham last fall in a crowded field of candidates.

Shone said after a brief hiatus and some reflection he decidedto keep pursuing politics. He cited a refrain he often heard in his experience on the municipal campaign trail as a motivating factor.

"I would always run up against this in the campaign where there would be a big issue that was needed to be tackled in the city and somebody would say, 'Oh, that's the province's role,'" Shone said.

"I really started thinking quite a bit aboutthe province in the election and some of the things that make Manitoba tick and Manitoba a great place."

During his mayoral run he made a point of saying he was not affiliated with a political party. His campaign promises took on some urban issues such as active transportation, cycling and roads, while also advocating for more supports for small businesses.

He said he remains concerned about "neighbourhoods, the environment, [the]economic situation of Manitoba."

Shone said he still doesn't necessarily like to be "put in a box" politically but in this case finds himself aligning with the "progressive word in the Progressive Conservatives."

The partyalso threw "a ton of support" behind him. The NDPdidn't contact him,he said.

"That's totally fine, because to be honest, at the end of the day, it would have been somewhere where I wouldn't have probably fit when it comes to a lot of the economic and financial aspects," Shone said.

"We have so many big issues in the province totalk about from social issues ... but at the end of the day, it does come down to how are you going to pay for that and where are you going to get the money from.

"I don't believe that we can ...necessarily raise taxes for anybody," he said.

The PCs and NDP have as of late ramped up attack ads against each other.

The PCs have alleged the NDP will raise the PST from sevento 10 per cent without citing a single specific source. The NDP have resurfaced a 2019 accusation that the PCs fired hundreds of nurses, a claim based on data that came with caveats fromCanadian Institute of Health Information.

Shone said he is also generally aware the statisticallikelihood of unseating an incumbent in this case lawyer and NDP MLAMark Wasyliw (Fort Garry) is typically considered low.

"I'm not afraid of that and I can present a very strong alternative," he said.

Shandi Strong is also running in Fort Garry for the Liberals.

Manitoba's political parties are looking to nominatecandidates for theprovincial electionscheduled for Oct. 3.

The PCs recently nominated Kathleen Cook, who had served as the Prairies director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, in Roblin. The seat is currently held by Myrna Driedger, who is retiring.

The NDP chose firefighterDavid Pankratz as its Waverleycandidate, afterDurdana Islam stepped down for health reasons. Garry Alejo, a Filipino community leader, isthe Liberal candidate for Burrows.

Meanwhile, PC members will choose their candidate in the party stronghold of Morden-Winkler on Monday night. Carrie Hiebert, Josh Okello, Liz Reimer and Zehid Zehri are on the ballot.