WINNIPEG — Wally Daudrich, who finished a close second in this year’s Manitoba Progressive Conservative leadership race, is now hoping to run for a legislature seat.

Daudrich is seeking the Opposition party’s nomination in the Turtle Mountain constituency — a Tory stronghold where incumbent Doyle Piwniuk has announced he will not seek re-election in 2027.

Daudrich owns a northern hotel and ecotourism company in Churchill and lives outside Morden, close to the Turtle Mountain constituency.

Daudrich garnered the most votes in the Tory leadership contest in April, but lost to Obby Khan under a point system the Tories use to weigh support in different constituencies.

Daudrich called himself the only true conservative in the leadership race, promised a more business-friendly approach, and criticized free prescription birth control.

He says he has been approached by some people to help form a new party, but is sticking with the Tories, where he has spent years as a board member.

“There’s no viable option to me other than what we have in the P.C. party and I believe we can form government again” Daudrich said in an interview Tuesday night.

Daudrich stirred up controversy during the leadership race when joked that he would tackle homelessness by letting polar bears loose outside the legislature in Winnipeg.

He said his business background and belief in energy development would be good for Turtle Mountain, which is near the province’s southwest oil fields. He’d like to see oil refined within the province and greater energy independence.

The Elections Manitoba website on Tuesday indicated Daudrich had not yet filed his financial returns, which would include a list of donors, from the spring leadership race. The original deadline was in July and Daudrich had been given an extension to Nov. 17.

Candidates can be fined for filing late. Daudrich said his agent had been working on the matter.

“That was an issue, I believe, with our bank not being able to release our bank account statements at an early date for whatever reason,” Daudrich said.

“The last I spoke with my official agent, the paperwork has been filed.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2025

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press