Fort Rouge hosts feisty all-party debate Wednesday

NDP candidate Wab Kinew and Manitoba Liberal Leader, Rana Bokhari exchanged some pointed remarks on Wednesday at an all-party debate in the Winnipeg constituency of Fort Rouge.

Progressive Conservative candidates Audrey Gordon, the Green's Grant Sharp and Manitoba Party's Matthew Ostrove also attended the debate organized by the Osborne Village Biz.

The debate focused on public safety, small business growth and community infrastructure.

In one exchange, Kinew charged that Bokhari's campaign neglected a year in its fiscal plan and did not factor in the cost of Liberal election promises.

• Manitoba election: Liberals' fiscal plan includes deficits, excludes cost of promises

If the fiscal plan were a school assignment, the Liberals, would get an "incomplete," said Kinew.

Bokhari fired back saying the NDP "have overspent every single plan that [they] have ever made."

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PC candidate for Fort Rouge, Audrey Gordon, told the audience there is "waste" in government and by finding efficiencies, her government would use cost savings to invest in infrastructure, education and health care.

• PCs hit campaign trail, promise to fix 'broken trust' in Manitoba government

Osborne Village Biz executive director, Stephanie Meilleur, said she hopes whichever party forms the next government will consider infrastructure spending that benefits small businesses in the area.

"We rely heavily on provincial government for some of our infrastructure projects," Meilleur said.