Winnipeg candidates push toxic social media aside, find voters want to talk about the economic bully next door (2025)

On a chilly midweek afternoon, Thomas Linner takes to a rite of passage for candidates in the early days of the campaign trail — picking up a thick stack of lawn signs, his name plastered on each one, from a local printer.

It’s his, as the NDP candidate for St. Boniface-St. Vital, first time running in a federal election, but, as he describes it, he’s held nearly every other role there is to hold in a campaign.

Knocking on doors, distributing lawn signs, dropping off pamphlets and attending community events have always been important parts of any campaign.

And while social media has, in recent elections, become a key outreach tool for candidates, the spread of disinformation online has left some running for office wondering about its value.

Linner said there’s a growing shift in how constituents are responding in the early stages of the April 28 election campaign. Uncertainty around the U.S.-triggered trade war has made many voters a little more likely to open the door to hear what candidates have to say.

“Folks are animated about it, and they’re willing to talk about it,” he said, chuckling. “In fact, some of them are very eager to talk about it for a long period of time.

“It depends on people’s level of engagement, but this is one of those animating issues, right? It’s got people talking at the water cooler… and when somebody shows up on their doorstep saying, ‘I want to talk to you about this,’ they’ve got things to say.”

Linner is not on X (formerly Twitter), describing it as “simply a space for abuse,” and shares campaign information and his platform through Meta tools such as Facebook, Instagram and Threads, but admits he has “real moral reservations” about using the platforms.

“Social media has become a divisive tool, rather than a unifying tool, and I think we’ve seen that borne out in multiple elections, and I think that it’s only getting worse in that way,” he said.

Past revelations of foreign interference into election campaigns, including the use of bots and other tools to sow misinformation through social media, is a concern for voters, said Brandon University political science professor Kelly Saunders.

That concern, along with the issue of tense Canada-U.S. relations being top of mind for candidates and voters, is creating an election period “like we’ve never seen before,” she said, and voters will likely be seeking further reassurance directly from candidates.

“In this situation, the largest campaign issue — what seems to be the ballot box issue right now — is beyond anybody’s control,” she said.

“Who knows what Donald Trump is going to do? And the threat to Canada is just such an existential threat that we’ve never really experienced to this degree before. I think that’s causing a lot more uncertainty, both for campaigns as well as for voters.”

Those worries, she said, open the door for in-person interactions to have a greater effect on voters.

“The threat to Canada is just such an existential threat that we’ve never really experienced to this degree before. I think that’s causing a lot more uncertainty, both for campaigns as well as for voters.”–Kelly Saunders

“I think it’s made that face-to-face interaction all the more vital,” she said. “Not that it wasn’t vital before, but it’s so easy for a candidate, a party, a leader, to be misrepresented and misconstrued over social media.”

Terry Duguid has been the face of 10 campaigns at all three levels of government over 25 years. He’s seeking the vote in Winnipeg South, his fifth federal campaign.

Throughout those years, one aspect of campaigning has remained true: it is, he said, a “contact sport,” and he, too, has learned digital outreach can be more toxic than constructive.

“Some of the (online) platforms are just not the places for civil discussion of issues, he said. “My campaign is very straightforward, we essentially are putting out our platform planks, we let folks know where we’ve been going in terms of community events, but we try to stay as as positive as possible.”

He said he’s received a consistently positive response from voters. He enjoys the campaign trail, and has built a personal style — he won’t knock on doors after sundown, figuring people may feel more comfortable opening their door to a stranger earlier in the day.

“That’s why I love spring elections,” he said.

“Winter elections are a problem, in that the daylight is short. Snowbanks are deep and it’s harder to get around. But it’s a real delight to campaign in the spring, as we’re doing now.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca