| Ken Waddell | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Neepawa | |
| In office 1998–2002 |
|
| Preceded by | Roy McGillivray |
| Succeeded by | Robert Durston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 29, 1948 Holland, Manitoba |
Ken Waddell (born March 29, 1948) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was the Mayor of Neepawa from 1998 to 2002, and sought the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in its 2006 leadership election. He has also sought election to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
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Waddell was born and raised in Holland, Manitoba, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba (1970). He moved to Neepawa in 1971, and was an agriculture representative for the provincial government until becoming a farmer and auctioneer.[1] He began publication of the Neepawa Banner newspaper in 1989, and also owns the Rivers Banner in the nearby community of Rivers.[2] He was a regional director of the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce in 1998-99.[3]
Waddel has been a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba since 1982, apart from a stint as Manitoba director of the officially non-partisan Canadian Taxpayers Federation from 1997 to 2002.[4] He was narrowly elected as Mayor of Neepawa in the 1998 municipal election.
During the buildup to the 1999 provincial election, Waddell wrote an editorial piece criticizing the provincial New Democratic Party's liberal perspectives on abortion and gay rights. Among other things, he wrote that the NDP would "promote the gay lifestyle in schools, but [...] ignore the problems that this gross misrepresentation yields". The editorial was widely circulated during the campaign, and some have speculated that it led the NDP to temper its support for gay rights to prevent a loss of rural support. When questioned about the editorial in 2001, Waddell said that he never expected it to have an impact on the election. He also remarked that NDP leader Gary Doer had, in his opinion, done a surprisingly good job as Premier of Manitoba.[5]
Waddell served as president of the Manitoba Smart Network in this period, and worked to expand high-speed internet services in small-town Manitoba.[6] He ran for re-election as mayor in 2002, but was defeated. In 2004, he was appointed to a two-year term as a director of the Manitoba Community Newspapers Association.[7]
Waddell supported the Canadian Alliance at the federal level in the early 2000s, and joined the successor Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. He unsuccessfully sought the party's nomination for Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette in the 2004 federal election.[8]
Waddell ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in 2006, following the resignation of Stuart Murray. Regarded as a long-shot candidate, he argued that the party should focus on rural issues and present a non-socialist alternative to the governing NDP.[9] He rejected being labeled as a social conservative, although he said that he would focus his campaign on "family values".[10] He also wrote a Winnipeg Free Press editorial during the campaign, entitled "It's time to get off socialist highway".[11]
Many Progressive Conservatives admired Waddell's speaking abilities, but believed that his ideological views would be unacceptable to urban and some rural voters.[12] He did not win any high-profile endorsements. He received 1,099 votes at the party's convention, about 12% of those cast.[13]
Waddell sought the Progressive Conservative nomination for Ste. Rose in the 2007 provincial election, but lost to Stu Briese.[14] He later won the party's nomination for the northeast Winnipeg division of Concordia, where he ran another long-shot campaign against NDP Premier Gary Doer. He was convincingly defeated. His wife Christine Waddell and son Mike Waddell were also Progressive Conservative candidates in this election.
Waddell criticized Henry Morgentaler's appointment to the Order of Canada in July 2008.[15] In June 2009, he indicated that he would consider seeking the Conservative Party of Canada's open nomination for Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette in the 2011 federal election.[16]
Despite his social conservatism on other matters, Waddell is an opponent of the death penalty.[17]
| 2007 Manitoba provincial election : Concordia edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | Expenditures | |
| New Democratic Party | (x)Gary Doer | 3,862 | 69.05 | -7.62 | $14,144.95 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Ken Waddell | 1,209 | 21.62 | +5.51 | $15,745.09 | |
| Liberal | Leslie Worthington | 336 | 6.01 | -1.21 | $340.30 | |
| Green | Andrew Basham | 186 | 3.33 | $199.88 | ||
| Total valid votes | 5,593 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 28 | |||||
| Turnout | 5,621 | 47.42 | +0.92 | |||
| Electors on the lists | 11,853 | |||||
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Durston | 949 | 63.78 |
| (x)Ken Waddell | 539 | 36.22 |
| Total valid votes | 1,488 | 100.00 |
| Candidate | Total votes | % of total votes |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Waddell | 743 | 50.96 |
| Robert Durston | 715 | 49.04 |
| Total valid votes | 1,458 | 100.00 |
All provincial electoral information is taken from Elections Manitoba. Provincial expenditures refer to candidate expenses. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available. Municipal results are taken from the Winnipeg Free Press, 29 October 1998, A13 and 28 October 2002, A10.