2019 Manitoba Election

Tanya Hansen Pratt - Radisson

1. Why did you decide to run in the Manitoba election?

I decided to run in the Manitoba election because I want to give a voice to people who need to be heard, and who want to be represented by someone who looks like them, who has lived and worked in a community like their own. I am a working class mother who lives in a 1970s bungalow in Valley Gardens. I don’t have a vacation home or a bulging bank account. But I do have a strong voice, and a wealth of experience and connections in the community to back up that voice. I want a strong Legislature full of experienced people that also look and live like the people they represent.

2. Why should a voter consider electing you to represent them?

I think it’s important to consider that I am a qualified individual who represents the demographics of the electoral division. My political experience includes over 20 years of working for policy and social change with grassroots organizations like MADD Winnipeg and the Business & Professional Women of Canada. I achieved the rank of Captain in the Air Force Reserve Cadet Instructors Cadre, where I worked for 12 years instructing leadership, citizenship, and aviation-related classes, and I currently work in manufacturing as a Mechanical Engineering Technologist. I am a wife and a mom of three active teenagers who all attend RETSD schools.

3. What key issue(s) / topic(s) will you stand for in your role as MLA, and why are these important to you?

In Radisson, the number one issue I hear about at doorsteps is healthcare. The closure of the Concordia Hospital ER has had a direct impact on the local community, along with the long wait times for knee and hip replacements.

I support:

• streamlining the administration and bureaucracy in the current health system
• allowing hospitals to make their own decisions on issues like the reopening of emergency rooms
• consulting health care industry professionals to make the Health Care system work well for the patients they serve
• switching to a patient-based model for hip and knee replacement surgeries to complete completion of more procedures and shorter wait times. Provinces that have implemented this funding model have much shorter wait times these surgeries.

From a personal standpoint:

• I believe that climate change is real and we all have a responsibility act, and I support the Manitoba Liberal Plan for Green Growth and Renewal to make our province carbon neutral by 2030.
• School boards should have much more control over how they teach their students and create their budgets and spending models in a way that best serves the students in their communities.

4. Do you have any other comments regarding your candidacy?

I made a personal commitment to run a clean campaign: no mudslinging, no name-calling. I think descending into unprofessional conduct not only displays an unwillingness to cooperate with others, but also changes public perception of politics in general. When we behave in an unbecoming manner, it sets a poor example and erodes public trust.

I have met many kind, compassionate individuals throughout my campaign who genuinely want to work together with people of all political affiliations to leave the province better than we found it. Many candidates, myself included, believe that politics can be regarded as a noble profession, but that requires a conscious decision to  remain positive, cooperative, open-minded, and willing to work together.