'Elitist,' 'relatable' and 'who?' Swing riding voters have their say on 3 Manitoba political leaders

A group of voters from Winnipeg swing ridings didn't mince words when describing the leaders of three parties vying for their approval in a provincial election campaign that officially starts Tuesday.

They called them "elitist," "out-of-touch" and "inexperienced" — but also "relatable," "intelligent," and, in one case, "who?"

It's people like those voters, living in a dozen or so swing ridings, who will likely decide the outcome of an Oct. 3 election that increasingly looks like a toss-up between the governing Progressive Conservatives and the Opposition NDP, who would have to claim most of those swing seats in order to form government.

The PCs ended the last legislature session with 35 of the 57 seats in the Manitoba Legislature. The NDP had 18 representatives and the Liberals had three. One seat was vacant.

To get a sense of voters' opinions this time around, Probe Research, in collaboration with CBC Manitoba, put together a focus group with likely voters from Winnipeg's swing ridings. The polling company identified potential participants from its panel and then randomly selected eight people to ensure a mix of people reasonably representative of Manitoba's demographics.

The 90-minute discussion, which took place Aug. 29 at The Forks in Winnipeg, was designed to help understand which issues matter most to voters and how the campaign is shaping up. It was moderated by Mary Agnes Welch from Probe Research, and filmed by CBC staff.

By and large, the focus group participants panned Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson and complimented NDP Leader Wab Kinew, though some expressed hesitations.

Participants commended Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont — if they knew who he is at all.

WATCH | Focus group participants have their say on party leaders:

While many focus group participants leaned toward the NDP, which tracks comparably to recent polling numbers in Winnipeg, every one of them had negative perceptions of Heather Stefanson, the Tory leader who has been premier since 2021.

When asked to write down three words to describe Stefanson, none offered a positive attribute, even when pressed by the moderator. 

"I wrote 'entitled, elitist and distrustful,'" said Patrick Armstrong, 50.

"I feel like she doesn't represent me and my family, and part of that is intertwined with the party she's involved with," Armstrong said. "She just doesn't come across as being in touch with my concerns and issues."

Armstrong is from Fort Richmond, a riding the Tories have held since 2016. It's one of the south Winnipeg seats the NDP is targeting.