# Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba candidates in the 1999 Manitoba provincial election

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba fielded a full slate of candidates in the 1999 provincial election, and won 24 out of 57 seats to become the Official Opposition after eleven years in government.
Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.

## Brandon East: Marty Snelling

Snelling has a Master of Education degree in Physical Education. He was fitness director of the central YMCA in Toronto during the 1970s, and was later director of YMCA Camp Pine Crest on the banks of Clear Lake in Ontario. He later moved to Brandon, Manitoba, where he led the local YMCA.
Snelling has been a Brandon school trustee since 1995. He was 53 years old during the 1999 election, and campaigned wearing a YMCA-themed "Run with Marty" t-shirt. He highlighted the Progressive Conservative government's success in bringing a hog farm to the city.
Snelling was chairman of the Brandon School Zone Committee in the early 2000s, and worked to ensure that persons under eighteen would not be permitted to buy cigarettes at local outlets. The Committee's connection to the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council was strongly criticized by provincial anti-smoking advocates, who argued that the service was simply a public relations exercise for the tobacco industry.
Snelling's wife, Barbara Bragg, has also campaigned for municipal office.
Electoral record :
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
| 1995 municipal | Brandon School Trustee, Ward One | n/a | not listed | not listed | not listed | himself and seven other candidates |
| 1998 municipal | Brandon School Trustee, Ward One | n/a | 5,402 | | 1/13 | himself and seven other candidates |
| 1999 provincial | Brandon East | Progressive Conservative | 2,080 | 26.34 | 2/4 | Drew Caldwell, New Democratic Party |
| 2002 municipal | Brandon School Trustee, Ward One | n/a | | | | himself and seven other candidates |
| 2006 municipal | Brandon School Trustee, Ward One | n/a | 4,985 | 7.15 | 3/20 | himself and seven other candidates |

## Burrows: Cheryl Clark

Clark received 724 votes (9.32%) in 1999, finishing third against New Democratic Party candidate Doug Martindale.
Former Manitoba Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Lee Clark has a daughter named Cheryl, although it is not known if this is the same person as the 1999 candidate (Ottawa Citizen, 13 May 1993).

## Concordia: Paul Murphy

Murphy was born in Winnipeg in March 1962 as a thalidomide baby, with shortened arms and legs. He worked as an agent for Perka International before his bid for office, and owned companies manufacturing accessible taxis for disabled persons. He joined Motor Coach Industries Ltd. in 1996, and subsequently became a director of regulatory compliance. He also became president of the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada, and played a major role in winning financial concessions from the government. He is a wheelchair user, and was described by the Winnipeg Free Press as "the first physically challenged candidate to ever run for the legislature" during his first campaign in 1995. He was later featured in the film Extraordinary People.
Electoral record :
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
| 1995 provincial | Concordia | Progressive Conservative | 1,845 | 24.30 | 2/4 | Gary Doer, New Democratic Party |
| 1999 provincial | Concordia | Progressive Conservative | 1,898 | 23.37 | 2/4 | Gary Doer, New Democratic Party |

## Elmwood: Elsie Bordynuik

Bordynuik is a visual artist, and has created various works of wildlife art. She received 2,659 votes (32.29%), finishing second against New Democratic Party incumbent Jim Maloway.

## Inkster: George (Gurjant) Sandhu

George (Gurjant) Sandhu received 1,017 votes (12.91%), finishing third against New Democratic Party candidate Becky Barrett. He later pleaded guilty to spending $2,139 more than the allowable limit of $25,000 on his campaign, and was given a small fine. He said that the error was not intentional, but was rather the result of "essentially running a one-man campaign".

## Radisson: Henry A. McDonald

McDonald works in sales and marketing. He first sought election to Winnipeg City Council in the 1995 municipal election, calling for workfare and the contracting out of city services. He also indicated that he would work with educators, social workers, police and youth to find solutions to crime. He was 53 years old, and was not a member of any political party at the time. He finished third against incumbent councillor Lillian Thomas.
McDonald sought election to the Winnipeg School Board in 1998, and was again defeated. He lost to New Democratic Party incumbent Marianne Cerilli in 1999.
Electoral record :
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
| 1995 municipal | Winnipeg City Council, Elmwood Ward | n/a | 1,742 | 16.43 | 3/6 | Lillian Thomas |
| 1998 municipal | Winnipeg School Board, Ward Three | n/a | 2,602 | | 9/11 | Mike Babinsky, Roman Yereniuk, Liz Ambrose |
| 1999 provincial | Radisson | Progressive Conservative | 3,114 | | 2/3 | Marianne Cerilli, New Democratic Party |

## Transcona: Dan Turner

Turner received 2,409 votes (27.38%), finishing second against New Democratic Party incumbent Daryl Reid.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Robert McLeod, "The business of fitness", Globe and Mail, 3 September 1979, S12.
* ↑ Denys Horgan and Malcolm Gray, "Canadian fitness club won't admit blind as members, but U. S. counterpart will", Globe and Mail, 24 October 1978, P19.
* ↑ Ian Kinross, "Camper burned by lightning hailed as 'hero'", Toronto Star, 26 July 1987, A1.
* ↑ "Brandon residents gear up for elections", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 October 1998, A9.
* ↑ Helen Fallding, "Voters get choice of new faces for MLA", Winnipeg Free Press, 13 September 1999, A6.
* ↑ Douglas Nairne, "PCs, NDP try to hog both seats in Brandon", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 1999, A8.
* ↑ "Fines, ads lead to fewer smokes sold to Brandon minors", Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 2000, A8.
* ↑ Nick Martin, "Schools, big tobacco 'in bed'", Winnipeg Free Press, 20 July 2002, A13.
* ↑ Note: The 1998 result is taken from the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper, 29 October 1998, A13. It is not clear if the numerical totals reflected the final results. The Winnipeg Free Press printed provisional results for the 1995 election on 26 October 1995, A6. Only 30 of 101 polls had reported by press time, however, and the results are too incomplete to be included in this article.
* ↑ "Thalidomide victims devastated Ottawa won't up compensation", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 16 October 1990, B5.
* ↑ Elaine Carey, "Thalidomide 'babies' at 25: struggling to live on a pittance", Toronto Star, 27 September 1987, A1.
* ↑ FYI from MCI Archived 2008-07-04 at the Wayback Machine, Motor Coach Industries, accessed 4 February 2008.
* ↑ Greg Quill, "CBC thalidomide show places blame on Ottawa", Toronto Star, 14 February 1989, H2.
* ↑ Paul Samyn, "Murphy's bid for legislature makes history", Winnipeg Free Press.
* ↑ Bonnie Malleck, "Thalidomide survivors", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 14 October 1999, D09.
* ↑ Elsie Bordynuik's Biography Archived 2007-08-12 at the Wayback Machine, Artistree Galleries, 13 September 2007.
* ↑ Mike McIntyre, "Ex-Tory candidate pleads guilty to election overspending", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 January 2003, A8. Sandhu was listed as 50 years old in this article.
* ↑ Nick Martin, "Elmwood opponents paint target on Thomas", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1995, B1.
* ↑ Nick Martin, "Rivals target youth crime", Winnipeg Free Press, 4 October, A6.
* ↑ "Ward Profile", Winnipeg Free Press, 4 October 1995, A7.