Want a winning political platform in this country? Just base it around bringing back a beloved hockey team, and watch the votes add up:

Manitoba's provincial election campaign has turned its attention to hockey with the Conservatives promising to bring the NHL back to Winnipeg.

Standing alongside former Winnipeg Jet Thomas Steen, Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen said he'll work with the private sector to bring back the team, who left Manitoba a decade ago.

The Tory leader says an NHL team would make Manitoba more attractive to young people and help stem the tide of university graduates who leave for Alberta.

The province has been having a real population drain in recent years, as anyone under the age of 30 has fled to work in the ridiculously profitable oilfields in Alberta. (Which isn't all that different from Kamloops, really.)

I'm not so sure that an NHL team would keep young Winnipeggers at home (not when they're leaving for jobs), but there's no doubt the Return of the Jets campaign deserves some support.

Even if it is from politicians.