The Pollcast: Manitoba goes to the polls

Manitobans will be heading to the polls twice this year, with PC Leader Brian Pallister pulling the plug early on his majority government and calling an election for Sept. 10 just a little more than a month before all Canadians cast their ballots in the Oct. 21 federal election.

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The Manitoba Progressive Conservatives ended 17 years of NDP government in 2016, winning a record-setting majority government with 53 per cent of the vote and 40 of the provincial legislature's 57 seats.

The New Democrats, under then-premier Greg Selinger, were reduced to just 14 seats and 26 per cent of the vote.

The next election in Manitoba was only scheduled for 2020, but the polls suggest that Pallister is on track to win re-election this year despite the early call. While there is an opportunity for NDP Leader Wab Kinew to make some gains for his party, to do sohe will have to hold-off Dougald Lamont's Liberals and the Greens under James Beddome.

To break down the electoral landscape in Manitoba as the provincial campaign kicks off,Pollcasthost and CBC polls analyst ric Grenier is joined byCurtis Brown, principal at Probe Research,a Winnipeg-based polling firm.

Listen to the full discussion above or subscribe to the CBCPollcastand listen to past episodes of the show.