Manitoba Hydro staff able to vote near temporary job locations

Elections Canada works with utility to minimize disruption to power restoration efforts

This article was published in October 2019 and may be outdated.

Hundreds of Manitoba Hydro staff working on the restoration of power to thousands of impacted Manitobans will be able to cast ballots in Monday’s federal election, at polling stations in the affected areas. This ensures all staff will be able to exercise their democratic rights to vote while minimizing the impact of the election on the restoration of electrical service to customers.

“This is great news for all involved. Working with Elections Canada in Ottawa, we have been able to develop a plan to ensure our staff can vote while staying in the areas they are working in,” said Jay Grewal, President and CEO of Manitoba Hydro. “We had always intended that our staff would get time off in order to participate in their election process, but this development saves hours of travel time allowing our hardworking field employees to both vote and continue to work to restoring service to our customers with a minimum of disruption.”

Typically, Canadians unable to vote in their home riding must use advance polls or get special ballots from Elections Canada in order to vote in a federal election. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the storm, many Manitoba Hydro field staff were unable to follow either of these standard processes. Instead, Elections Canada has devised a plan to allow employees based in the field to cast their ballots at polling stations already set up in the local areas.

“We thank Elections Canada for their hard work and understanding under these extraordinary circumstances,” Grewal said.

Manitoba Hydro continues to make progress bringing customers back online. Just under 5,000 customers remain without power in the Ashern, Arborg, Portage and Dauphin areas.

Customers can get the latest information on power outages and report them online from their smart phones.

They can also follow Manitoba Hydro on social media:

For more information, please contact:

Bruce Owen – Media Relations Officer
204-360-3651
Cell. 204-794-8270
bowen@hydro.mb.ca

Scott Powell — Director, Corporate Communications
204-360-4417
Cell. 204-299-8849
spowell@hydro.mb.ca