Manitoba Political Pot Pourri

Here's a look at some of the key Manitoba election races: 

Southdale  Currently held by Audrey Gordon, the Progressive Conservative health minister. She won this south Winnipeg seat by fewer than 500 votes in 2019, and may be in for a tough battle now that the NDP are riding higher in opinion polls. The New Democrats have given a high profile to their candidate, Renee Cable, at recent press conferences and events. The Liberals have nominated former member of Parliament Robert-Falcon Ouellette, who previously ran for mayor.

McPhillips Another Winnipeg seat that was a close win for the Tories last time. Shannon Martin won by fewer than 100 votes and is not running again. Sheilah Restall is carrying the Tory banner this time. The NDP are putting up Jasdeep Devgan and the Liberals have nominated Umar Hayat.

St. Boniface Held by Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont since a 2018 byelection, this seat was previously won by the NDP. Recent opinion polls have suggested Liberal support in Manitoba has dropped while the NDP’s has risen, so this may be a tighter race this time. Lamont faces the NDP’s Robert Loiselle and Kirt Hayer for the Tories.

Kirkfield Park A traditional Tory seat in west Winnipeg that has voted NDP in the past. It’s currently held by Kevin Klein, who won the seat in a byelection last December, and was soon promoted to environment minister. His margin of victory was less than 200 votes. The NDP are running Logan Oxenham again and Rhonda Nichol is carrying the Liberal banner for a second time.

Selkirk This seat was held by the NDP for 26 years before Tory Alan Lagimodiere won it in 2016. Lagimodiere is not running again. The field this time includes Richard Perchotte for the Tories and Mitch Obach for the NDP.

Brandon East This seat went to the NDP for decades before the Tories won it in 2016. Len Isleifson is seeking re-election for the Tories. Glen Simard is running for the NDP and Trenton Zazalak is running for the Liberals.

Riel This is one of a few suburban Winnipeg seats that have swung between the two major parties in the past, helping to determine which party forms government. Tory Rochelle Squires, the minister for families, kept it in 2019 by a roughly 1,000-vote margin. The NDP are running Mike Moyes again and the Liberals have put forward LeAmber Kensley.

Fort Whyte Traditionally a rock-solid Tory seat, the party hung on by fewer than 200 votes in a byelection last year won by Obby Khan. Khan was later promoted to cabinet, and will once again face Liberal Willard Reaves, who finished a close second. Trudy Schroeder is running for the NDP.

https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2023/09/05/key-races-manitoba-election/

Manitoba nurses' largest union has endorsed the NDP health care plan. 

Manitoba’s largest nurses union is endorsing the provincial NDP’s health-care plan ahead of the Oct. 3 election.

The Manitoba Nurses Union says the plan works to remove barriers and promises collaboration.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew says it aims to bring back nurses who left their jobs, develop a strategy to get internationally educated nurses transitioned into careers and expand retention incentives.

He says an NDP government would end mandatory overtime for nurses and ensure there are more staff to care for patients.

Darlene Jackson, president of the nurses union, says the organization welcomes the plan.

She says many nurses are leaving their jobs because they are overworked.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9945553/manitoba-nurses-union-endorses-ndp-he...

NDP Leader Wab Kinew outlined the NDP healthcare plan at a news conference. 

Kinew held a press conference outside the Grace Hospital in west Winnipeg and promised to hire 600 more nurses and end mandatory overtime for all nurses.

“We will start to fix the health-care staffing shortage,” Kinew said.

An NDP government would lay out timelines to achieve higher nurse-patient ratios, similar to a plan in British Columbia, Kinew said. His promise was endorsed by the Manitoba Nurses Union.

The NDP have not yet released their full costed platform, but have pointed to unspent contingency money in the spring provincial budget as a way to pay for some of their promises.

Opinion polls have suggested the Tories are in an uphill battle to win a third consecutive mandate after sweeping the NDP from power in 2016. Stefanson, who took over as premier two years ago following the retirement of Brian Pallister, has loosened the province’s purse strings after years of fiscal restraint that included public-sector wage freezes.

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/uncategorized/2023/09/07/day-3-of-the-...

So far election promises have been predictable with the Conservatives focused on tax cuts while the NDP is focused on improving access to health care, although it is also promising to cut the provincial fuel tax. 

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives promised Friday to sharply increase tax credits for charitable donations if they are re-elected Oct. 3. It was the latest in a series of promises involving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax cuts or new spending from the Tories and Opposition New Democrats, who both say they can fulfill their promises while also balancing the budget and putting an end to a long string of deficits. “Our track record is one where when we’ve set (budget) targets … we’ve usually met those targets or exceeded them,” Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said Friday in Steinbach, a city southeast of Winnipeg, where he is running for a sixth term.

Goertzen said a re-elected Tory government would increase the provincial income tax rebate on the first $200 given to a registered charity from 10.8 per cent to 20 per cent. The rebate on contribution amounts above $200 would jump to 25 per cent from 17.4 per cent, he added. Four days into the campaign, the Tories have already promised to eliminate the land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers, let seniors defer municipal property taxes, and cut in half – gradually, over a four-year period – the tax rate applied to the lowest-income tax bracket. The income-tax cut alone would cost the treasury $604 million year when it’s fully implemented, the Tories said Friday. That is close to the $612 million annual budget for the entire Agriculture department.

The New Democrats have also promised tax cuts, including a temporary pause on the provincial fuel tax, which at 14 cents a litre brings in roughly $340 million a year. The NDP has also promised hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending, including the reopening of three hospital emergency rooms and a recruitment strategy for health professionals. On Friday, NDP Leader Wab Kinew promised to open four new family medical centres in Winnipeg and one in Brandon. An NDP government would also help existing medical clinics expand to offer a range of medical services including mental-health workers, social workers and pharmacists, he added. “All of these health experts will be at your fingertips, working together to provide comprehensive care that keeps you healthy,” Kinew said.

The NDP has said some of its proposed spending is one-time infrastructure work. It has also said its promises would be paid partly by contingency money – an amount put aside annually for unexpected costs – that the Tories included in their spring budget.

The Liberals, who have three legislature seats, have promised $1 billion in new spending, funded in part by tax increases on some income earners and property owners.

The Tories and the NDP have promised to balance the budget within the next term and end a series of deficits that stretch back to 2009, with the exception of a razor-thin $5-million surplus in 2019. The red ink prompted two credit-rating agencies to downgrade Manitoba’s rating in 2017.

The province has seen its red ink shrink in the last few years, helped in part by big increases in equalization payments from the federal government. Equalization jumped this year alone by 19 per cent to $3.5 billion – a total that has roughly doubled since the Tories took office in 2016. The program is based on a complex formula that calculates each province’s ability to raise revenues and gives money to ones with less fiscal capacity. The amount any province receives can vary widely from year to year, and the federal government reviews the formula every so often.

Goertzen said the Tories will release their fully costed platform before the election next month. He said the tax cuts will stimulate the economy, which will generate more tax revenue and offset some of the revenue lost by the tax cuts. Goertzen also hinted that the deficit for last year – last forecast at $193 million – may be smaller than expected when the final audited numbers come out. That usually occurs near the end of September. “I think you’ll see good news there as well,” Goertzen said.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-manitoba-election-conserv...

Former Manitoba NDP Premier Gary Doer and fomer ambassador to the US will become a trade advisor to the government if the NDP is elected. 

The Manitoba NDP are promising to bring back a party all-star as an advisor if they form the next provincial government.

Leader Wab Kinew announced on Tuesday that former premier Gary Doer would work with the Manitoba NDP government as an advisor on Canada-U.S. trade, should the party win the Oct. 3 election. 

Doer, 75, served as the 20th premier of Manitoba from 1999 to 2009, winning three provincial elections, with a larger majority each time.

After retiring from politics, Doer served as Canada's ambassador to the U.S. from 2009-16. He later worked for the Alberta government as an advocate in resolving the softwood lumber dispute with the Trump administration.

He is currently the volunteer co-chair of the Woodrow Wilson Institute and is a member of the advisory board of the Canadian American Business Council. 

"Gary has been an inspiration to me since the beginning of my political career, and I'm grateful he has accepted the offer to lend his great expertise to the important issue of Manitoba-U.S. trade," Kinew said on Tuesday.

Doer would help increase trading opportunities with the U.S., he said.

"If my team has the opportunity to serve as Manitoba's next government, we'll get back on track and we'll draw on Gary's experience and advice to do it."

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/gary-doer-will-become-advisor-on-c...

A debate was held today on parties's plan to attack poverty.

Another provincial debate was held in Winnipeg Tuesday, as the province inches closer to the Oct. 3 election.

Four parties were all represented at the evening event – Nahanni Fontaine with the NDP, Liberal leader Dougald Lamont, Manitoba Green Party Leader Janine Gibson and Progressive Conservative candidate Rick Shone

Make Poverty History Manitoba was the host of the debate and the candidates were asked about how their parties plan to address poverty in Manitoba.

All representatives agreed that poverty is a strong talking point ahead of election day and it's a situation they all want to see improve in the province, however, each believes there are different ways of fixing the problem.

The first question of the evening was focused on social housing and how the party plans to create new and protect existing housing supply.

Fontaine said this is an all-hands-on-deck approach and the NDP is elected is prepared to work with the federal government, as well as organizations and people on the front line to get the job done.

"We will establish a ministerial approval process to provide oversight over non-profit housing so that we don't get in a situation like we saw at Lions Place," said Fontaine. "We will introduce a $700 tax credit to make rent more affordable, we will maintain our social housing, we will establish more social and affordable housing for Manitobans."

Gibson said the Green Party would work to support the creation of 10,000 units so those needing social housing don't wait so long, and she called for more transparency for those on waiting lists.

"We also need the housing support workers to help get the right people into the right housing situations," she said. We think not only do we have to address this lack of appropriate housing, but we need to make sure that women and children are housed in emergency situations when they're subjected to domestic violence."

She also would like for there to be more housing, not just in large urban areas, but throughout the province.

For Shone and the PCs, one of the steps is making sure the housing that is available now is up to par for people, saying money needs to be spent on refurbishing, maintaining and rebuilding properties.

"We have a homeless strategy right now, it is $126 million to shift efforts from managing (homelessness) to ending (homelessness), truly ending homelessness. It was launched earlier than planned because of the urgency of homelessness," said Shone.

Lamont said his party would overhaul the rental tenancies branch so that it wasn't just a rubber stamp to evicting people and there could be an appeal process for tenants when there is a large jump in rent.

"We've also committed to the same date housing strategy. We can't do it overnight, but that's what we need to aim for. Currently, in Manitoba, when you're homeless, you have to be chronically homeless for six months to be able to have to be housed. That can be a very, very cold six months," said Lamont.

The candidates were also asked if their parties would commit to raising the basic needs budget of Employment and Income Assistance (EIA).

When asked in a, 'yes' or 'no' format, both Fontaine and Shone held up no to the question.

 "We're committed to supporting folks that are on EIA. What does that look like right now? Right now, our commitments are universal meal programs for children, its supporting individuals with mental health and addiction services. It's supporting folks to access more affordable social housing. The reality is that we're not going to be able to have a full understanding of what's going on and what the PCs have done in the last seven years," said Fontaine

Shone said EIA is something that needs to evolve.

"We need to evolve by using tools to assess how everybody gets their income. So these types of tools would us to individualize support plans tailored to each person's complex needs," said Shone.

Lamont said EIA needs to change as people on the bottom end of the scale are only getting pennies and supports haven't changed in 35 years.

"It's really about making sure the people at the top pay more and making sure the people who really need it, get what they need. That's the opposite of what has been happening for the past seven years," said Lamont.

Gibson agreed that a basic income guarantee is important, but noted additional support would be needed to help people take the next steps.

"We need to have sufficient free mental health services and addiction support services to complement this. The healing from the stress that has been caused by intergenerational neglect and the long time that we have not had sufficient social housing," said Gibson.

Earlier Tuesday, the leaders of the NDP, Liberals and PCs were at a debate talking about their ideas on the economy and safety, which was hosted by the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association.

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/provincial-debate-looks-at-how-parties-plan-...

Progressive Conservative Environment Minister Kevin Klein continued to be "identifed as Métis, even though the president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, a prominent Métis lawyer and Klein's own brother all dispute the claim . "The basis for stating Mr. Klein as Indigenous is because he has publicly identified himself as a Canadian Métis," a spokesperson for Premier Heather Stefanson wrote in January." 

Klein says he belongs to the Painted Feather Woodland Métis. The entity is not recognized by the Manitoba Métis Federation or the Métis Nation of Ontario. It's a for-profit company based out of a single-family residence near Bancroft, Ont., just over 250 kilometres northeast of Toronto.  

Klein says he claims to be Métis as a connection to his late mother, whom he has publicly identified as Indigenous. 

"I'm not self-identifying, nor am I using it, nor am I mentioning it every time I open my mouth. It is a family issue for me and a connection to my mother," Klein said in an interview during his run for mayor last fall.

Contacted by CBC News, Klein's brother, Christopher Rout, said he does not consider himself, his brother or his mother Métis.

"I remember learning about Métis in school. I think I would have learned something then and been told something, but no. No, we're not Métis," Rout said in an interview with CBC News. He would seek Métis citizenship if he were eligible, he said.

Rout is Klein's younger brother and although they have the same parents, their surnames are different. Klein officially changed his name from Harold Kevin Rout Jr. to Kevin Elvis Klein sometime before his second marriage in 1994, according to the marriage certificate. 

Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand told CBC after a request for comment that he disputes Klein's claim to be Métis.

"Kevin Klein simply does not meet our criteria. We do not recognize the Painted Feather Woodlands Métis or any other group that claims Métis identity outside our definition. This is no different than any of the other cases where groups or individuals are calling themselves Métis when they really mean mixed heritage," Chartrand wrote in an email to CBC News. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/kevin-klein-indigenous-manitoba-...

With the election focusing on the economy and health care and the NDP much higher in recent polls than in the last election, while the Liberals have lost support according to these polls, the NDP are going after Liberal leader Dougald Lamont's riding. 

Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson is scheduled to outline her economic plan to the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday morning.

The chamber is hosting the three major party leaders for separate breakfast speeches in advance of the Oct. 3 provincial election. Stefanson has already promised to phase out the payroll tax that employers pay over eight years — a move she says will stimulate economic growth.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew is scheduled to make a health-care promise outside the St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg. The St. Boniface constituency is currently held by Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, and the NDP, riding higher in opinion polls than the last election, is hoping to capture it for the first time since 2018.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9957168/manitoba-election-economy-healthcare/

Here are the election promises of the three main parties so far: 

Progressive Conservatives

— Cut in half, over four years, the rate applied to the bottom personal income-tax bracket, which could save the average person earning $50,000 in annual income $1,900 per year when fully implemented in 2028.

— Remove the federally imposed carbon price on the natural gas portion of hydro bills within 10 days of being re-elected.

— Phase out the province's payroll tax for businesses over eight years. The tax charges employers a percentage of their total annual payroll except for those with payrolls below $2 million a year, which are exempt.

— Eliminate the land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers, potentially saving them roughly $5,700 for the average home.

— Give senior homeowners, regardless of their income, the ability to defer some or all of their property taxes until they sell their homes.

— Introduce a $500 tax credit for people who use mobility aids such as walkers and wheelchairs.

— Increase the provincial income tax rebate on the first $200 given to a registered charity to 20 per cent from 10.8 per cent. Rebate contribution amounts above $200 would jump to 25 per cent from 17.4 per cent.

— Permanently cut in half rental fees for agricultural Crown lands and triple funding for adviser service districts.

— Remove the provincial sales tax on the purchase of trees and flowers.

— Balance the budget within the next term.

 

New Democrats

— Open four new family medical centres in Winnipeg and one in Brandon that would be staffed with a team of emergency room doctors, nurses and technologists.

— Temporarily suspend the provincial fuel tax until inflation subsides.

— Freeze hydroelectric rates for one year.

— Reopen the emergency room departments at the Victoria General, Concordia and Seven Oak General hospitals that were turned into urgent care centres in 2017.

— Build a new emergency room at the Eriksdale hospital in the Interlake region. The emergency department temporarily shut down last year due to staffing shortages but has since reopened with limited hours.

— More government contract work for bidders and workers in the province.

— Help existing medical clinics expand to offer a range of medical services including mental-health workers, social workers and pharmacists.

— Hire 600 more nurses and end mandatory overtime for all nurses.

— Committed to searching the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of slain Indigenous women Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. Has not pledged a specific dollar amount to the search.

— Balance the budget within the next term.

Liberals

— Establish a minimum income for people over 60 and people with disabilities.

— Allocate bonus pay of between $5,000 and $10,000 for all front-line health-care workers.

— Set up a provincial business development bank so businesses could access capital more easily.

— Medicare coverage for people who need to access mental health services.

— Eliminate the top 80 per cent of education property tax rebates the government issues annually while continuing the rebates to the bottom 20 per cent of properties.

— Return an estimated $338 million in federal child benefits that the Manitoba government clawed backed from Indigenous children in the care of child and family services.

— Provide stable funding for education and create a $300-million-a-year fund to pay for climate change initiatives.

— Fund a search of the Prairie Green landfill on a 50/50 basis with the federal government with an initial commitment of $42 million.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/promise-tracker-manitoba-party-pledg...

The indigenous vote could be decisive in Manitoba.

With polls showing the PCs and the NDP in a tight race for next month’s provincial election, a University of Manitoba professor of political science says the importance of the Indigenous vote cannot be understated, and Indigenous voters could have a lot of say about who forms the next government in Manitoba.

“I would say out of any provincial elections in this country the Indigenous vote in Manitoba is the most significant,” University of Manitoba professor of Political Studies Réal Carrière said. “It’s the largest per capita population of Indigenous people in the country so it’s not insignificant, and in a close election it becomes that much more important.”

An Angus Reid Institute poll released back in June showed the NDP holding a five-point lead over the PCs, (44-39) but Carrière said he believes as we near the Oct. 3 provincial election, the race will continue to tighten.

If the election were held one year earlier, Carrière said he would say the NDP would likely have won and formed government, but he said in recent months the race has become too close for him to make any predictions. “It seems like it has gotten a lot closer and I think it will continue to be close until we get to Oct. 3,” he said.

But as candidates continue to make promises and court voters leading up to the Oct. 3 election, Carrière said he believes the PCs will have a difficult time attracting Indigenous voters this election, both because of current decisions and policies, but also because of the history of the relationship between provincial conservatives and Indigenous people in Manitoba. “All parties are cognizant of the importance of the demographic, but some are far more cognizant both now and historically than others,” he said. “The PCs historically have not been focused on Indigenous issues so there is a legacy there, and things were very damaged with the former Premier Brian Pallister, and that damage continues now with Heather Stefanson.”

According to Carrière, the issues on Indigenous people’s minds when they go to the polls could be very different in the city of Winnipeg than in smaller and more remote communities.

But he said he has little doubt that getting the Prairie Green Landfill searched for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran will be the most pressing issue for Indigenous voters in Winnipeg next month, as calls continue to grow for the landfill to be searched for the two Indigenous women believed to have been dumped there by an alleged serial killer. “It’s pretty obvious in the city it’s the landfill, and it’s top of mind because the movement has been centred in Winnipeg,” Carrière said.

In northern communities, he said it could be mining and mineral extraction that bring Indigenous people to the polls, as they look to have more of a say in how the province uses land in northern Manitoba. With recent statistics showing approximately 18% of Manitobans identifying as Indigenous, the largest percentage in the country, some Indigenous leaders are now asking citizens to get out and vote next month, and hoping they understand the power their vote could have.

“With a rapidly expanding demographic, now is the perfect time for First Nations to get involved in the provincial political process,” Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said. "It is also essential that our next government commits to searching the landfill, addressing the affordable housing crisis, decreasing racism in health care policing, and correctional systems, and creating changes that improve the lives of our citizens. Let’s vote to hold the leaders of the political parties to account, when it comes to protecting, preserving, promoting, and enhancing the inherent rights of First Nations peoples.”

https://www.pentictonherald.ca/spare_news/article_24a28ceb-f41a-5407-a04...

Below is a look at the key ridings that could decide the election. 

With the countdown on to election day in Manitoba, political experts say seats are up for grabs and could flip in and outside Winnipeg. Here is a look at some of the close battles and tight races to watch across the province.

In previous Manitoba elections, the south Winnipeg constituency of Fort Richmond has gone back and forth between the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats. On October 3, the race here could be one to watch.

"I would say Fort Richmond is one right at the top of the list," said pollster Curtis Brown with Probe Research. The constituency is currently held by the Tories, though former school trustee Jennifer Chen is trying to turn it NDP orange. "People are ready for change in Fort Richmond, that's what I'm hearing every day at doorsteps," Chen said. "I talked to a lot of people, I've knocked on thousands of doors." There is no incumbent. In June, PC Cabinet Minster Sarah Guillemard announced she was not running for re-election. So in her place, community centre executive and volunteer Paramjit Shahi is running as the PC candidate. "I'm involved in this community for the last 20 years. It's lived experience in this riding which is giving me the upper hand," Shahi said. Ernie Nathaniel is the liberal candidate in Fort Richmond, where the Liberals finished second in 2019, ahead of the NDP. There is a feeling this could be a bellwether race. "As this constituency goes, I say so goes the province," said Chris Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

Political pundits and experts say there are other constituencies to keep a close eye on in Winnipeg where the race may come down to the Tory and NDP candidates.

Political pundits and experts say there are other constituencies to keep a close eye on in Winnipeg where the race may come down to the Tory and NDP candidates.

Along with Fort Richmond in the south, there is Waverley, Seine River, Riel, and Southdale. To the west – Assiniboia and Kirkfield Park. And in the northeast, there is McPhillips, Rossmere and Radisson. "There will be a struggle over the suburban seats as to which way it's going," said Adams.

The constituencies to watch outside Winnipeg include Brandon East as well as Dawson Trail, Dauphin and Selkirk – which don't have liberal candidates. In all of the races, the NDP are trying to gain the seats while the PCs are trying to hold on to them. "For the conservatives, this is a very defensive campaign," Brown said. "This is about trying to defend the seats that you've won that would have voted NDP in the past."

The political observers CTV News spoke to say St. Boniface may be another constituency to keep an eye on as well. It's held by Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, but in the past it was an NDP seat under former premier Greg Selinger.

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/the-constituencies-to-watch-ahead-of-manitob...

Tonight in the TV debate, the Liberal and Progressive Conservative leaders worked closely together in their attacks on NDP leader Wab Kinew with Premier Stephanson even throwing questions to Liberal leader Lamont to attack Kinew, who the last two polls show is the frontrunner. Stephenson also questioned Kinew's leadership ability because he is willing to spend money to look for the two murdered indigenous women buried in the Winnipeg landfill, thereby raising questions about herself on indigenous issues. 

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew faced a barrage of criticism from his opponents on Thursday night during the only televised debate of 2023 provincial election race — including shots in some questions that weren't even directed at him.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont used all his questions during the hour-long leaders' debate to grill Kinew on issues such as how he'd address violent crime and pay for his party's promises.

Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson. meanwhile, used two of her opportunities to ask Lamont pointed about Kinew — essentially using the Liberal leader to take swipes at her main opponent.

The debate comes a day after the release of two polls suggesting the NDP is leading the PCs in popular support.

For the most part, the leaders stuck to the talking points and promises they've trotted out throughout the election period.

Stefanson focused her statements on growing the economy and tackling the high cost of living, while Kinew talked about fixing the health-care system and Lamont argued neither of his opponents are worthy of Manitobans' votes, referring to both the PC and NDP plans as "fiscally delusional."

But the night did bring a few standout moments. In one question, Stefanson asked Lamont — not Kinew — about the effects of a provincial sales tax hike by an NDP government. Her party has, without evidence, been claiming for months the NDP would increase the PST if elected. She later told reporters that strategy was simply a way to "make sure that Dougald Lamont had a chance to get up and let everyone and Manitobans know what he stands for," while Lamont said the PC leader raised important questions about the NDP, who he said have "been making it up as they go along."

The PC leader also asked Lamont about Kinew's statement during a CJOB radio debate this week that former Liberal member of Parliament and current emergency room doctor Doug Eyolfson endorsed the NDP's plan to reopen three Winnipeg emergency rooms. Lamont later held a news conference to decry that as a lie.

Eyolfson also later said he hadn't had time to read the NDP's plan, let alone endorse it — and while he has publicly condemned the province closing the ERs, he called Kinew's description of his views a misunderstanding, not a lie.  Following Thursday's debate, Kinew would not say he was wrong in describing Eyolfson's statements as an endorsement.

"I think that we're in agreement, Dr. Eyolfson and I, that closing the ERs was a big mistake," he said.  Stefanson, who appeared to rely heavily on her notes throughout the debate, was also the first to bring up the calls for a search of the Prairie Green landfill near Winnipeg for the remains of two First Nations homicide victims.

She questioned Kinew's leadership ability by bringing up his support for a landfill search, referring to her choice against paying for a search as the type of necessary but "very difficult decision" that leaders are often faced with.

"This will happen time and time again. And in this particular case, the answer had to be no," she said.

When asked why she won't reconsider searching for the remains of Marcedes Myran or Morgan Harris, Stefanson mentioned neither of the women's names as she talked about her government's recent pledge to help fund an Indigenous-run addictions treatment centre.

"That's true reconciliation, working together — 180 more beds to help ensure that we prevent those people from getting the — prevent MMIWG from getting into the situation in the first place," she said.

Kinew fired back at Stefanson during the debate, asking her whether she agreed her government's cuts to health care in Manitoba led to tragic consequences, including the death of Krystal Mousseau, a 31-year-old woman who died during a failed transfer to an intensive care unit out of province in 2021. "I want everyone to remember Krystal's name, because I think so many of us in this province know somebody where we're still asking those 'what if' questions. What if healthcare had been better?" he said. 

Kinew later attacked Stefanson's record on dealing with crime and addictions as premier, accusing her of being "hard on the people living in bus shelters but soft on the people supplying them drugs." He also said an NDP government would take action on changing bail conditions at the provincial level within 100 days of being elected.

The NDP leader also raised his promise to bring back former Manitoba premier Gary Doer as an adviser on Canada-U.S. trade — which Stefanson responded to with a moment of sarcasm. "Am I missing something? Is Gary Doer running for politics again in Manitoba?" she asked Kinew. "I have a lot of respect for Gary Doer. There's no question. But he is not going to be the premier of Manitoba after this election, so you're going to have to make some tough decisions if you get there — but I'll tell you, we're going to make sure that you don't get there."

In an apparent reference to the NDP's promise to stop sending education tax rebates to corporate property owners — but otherwise leave the PC practice largely intact — Lamont accused Kinew of sticking to the "Pallister plan" and used Kinew's own catchphrase to liken the NDP leader to former PC premier Brian Pallister. "How do you do? You're Pallister Kinew," he said.

Lamont also suggested neither Kinew nor Stefanson would be able to fulfil all their election promises, including balancing the budget, without slashing funding from somewhere.

"What you're promising is cuts," he said. At the end of the night, Kinew made another plea to Liberal voters to consider giving their support in the upcoming election to the NDP — a party Lamont later accused of abandoning its principles.

A group of broadcasters co-operated to put on the debate, which aired live on CBC TV, radio and online.

It comes a day after the release of polls from the Angus Reid Institute and Probe Research suggesting the NDP have a strong lead in the race. The Probe poll suggested the NDP have 49 per cent of voter support, compared with 38 per cent for the PCs and nine per cent for the Liberals. Those polls suggest a shift in voter intention since June, when a Probe Research poll reported a provincewide deadlock in party support.

The coming election will also be a test for the PCs under Heather Stefanson, who has never stood a provincial election as party leader. Heading into the election period, the governing PCs held 35 of the 57 seats in Manitoba's Legislature. The NDP had 18, the Liberals held three and one seat was vacant. Advance voting opens on Sept. 23 and runs until Sept. 30.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/kinew-in-the-crosshairs-during-man...

The election increasingly seems to be going the NDP's way, especially with support for the Liberals collapsing, although they have a way of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. 

If the New Democrats manage to hold on to the lead polls suggest they have right now in Manitoba, there won't be much of a contest on election night.

Two things are going very well for the NDP: strong support for the party itself and a significant voter retreat from the Manitoba Liberals.

Polls released this week by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute and for-profit firm Probe Researchsuggested 47 to 49 per cent of Manitoba voters intend to cast ballots for the NDP.

Support at that level spells victory — over the past century, no Manitoba political party with 44 per cent of the popular vote or better has lost an election.

Even a smidge below 44 per cent doesn't get you there, at least if you're the Tories. Progressive Conservative parties led by Sterling Lyon in 1981 and Hugh McFadyen in 2011 came close to garnering 44 per cent and still managed to lose elections to the NDP.

In both of those races, support for the Manitoba Liberals collapsed into the single digits. That provided the NDP with an advantage in what essentially became head-to-head races with the PCs in northern Manitoba, Brandon and the northern half of Winnipeg. 

This is another year where the Liberal vote appears to be collapsing. Both the Angus Reid and Probe polls suggest only nine per cent of voters intend to cast a ballot for a Liberal.

That means the dynamic we see right now in Manitoba — strong support for the NDP coupled with a weak Liberal showing — may prove lethal for the Progressive Conservatives.

Even if both the PCs and Liberals claw back a few percentage points of support, recent electoral history suggests the path to victory for the PCs becomes narrow, hinging upon favourable splits in swing constituencies.

In 1999, both the NDP and Gary Filmon's Progressive Conservatives garnered more than 40 per cent of the popular vote, while the Liberals under Jon Gerrard captured 13 per cent.

Gary Doer's NDP still captured eight more seats than the PCs — 32 to 24 — and a majority government that year.

This year, the polls are looking a lot more like 1981 and 2011.

In 1981, Howard Pawley's NDP edged Lyon's PCs in popular support by 47 to 44 per cent. But the Liberals, led by the now-forgotten Doug Lauchlan, only cobbled together seven per cent support. The result was an 11-seat NDP majority.

In 2011, Greg Selinger's New Democrats edged past McFadyen's Tories by an even narrower range of popular support, 46 to 44 per cent. But Gerrard's Liberals only managed 7.5 per cent of voters.

This allowed Selinger to win 37 seats — the highest total ever won by an NDP premier in this province — as well as an 18-seat majority.

All of this discussion, however, is predicated on the idea nothing will change in Manitoba between now and the Oct. 3 vote. There is every reason to suggest a lot will.

For starters, the favourable polls for the NDP have the potential to mobilize diehard PC supporters who can't stand the idea of the NDP's Wab Kinew becoming premier in time to issue Thanksgiving greetings to Manitobans.

Similarly, there may be a temptation for NDP supporters and campaign workers to take their feet off the gas.

"There [are] hazards in those numbers because it can lead to complacency," said Probe Research president Scott MacKay.

Kinew clearly understood this risk when he made an appeal to voters on Friday.

"Polls don't change governments," he said in a carefully worded statement at a campaign appearance in Tuxedo. "Only voters can do that, and that's why we need everyone to get out and vote this year."

There is also the possibility Kinew has overplayed his hand when it comes to Liberal voters. Three times this week — at the Tuxedo event, during a televised leaders' debate and in front of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce — Kinew appealed directly to Liberals for their votes this year.

There are voters who do not appreciate being told overtly what to do. If polls suggest many Liberal voters were already leaning NDP, why mess with success?

More importantly, 10 days is still a very long time in the context of a 28-day political campaign. The Progressive Conservatives are not finished rolling out their platform. The negative ads you expect to see from a party running from behind have yet to appear en masse.

The bottom line is that campaigns matter, even at the end, and provincewide popular opinion can change.

Last spring in Alberta, for example, the United Conservatives and NDP were running neck and neck in several polls two weeks before the election. The UCP ended up winning the popular vote by almost nine percentage points.

A provincewide NDP lead doesn't automatically mean the party will be able to flip every one of the seats on its target list. If Manitoba's race grows closer, the election-day machinery on the ground for both the NDP and PCs becomes more important.

The NDP must win 11 more seats than the party has right now to form a majority government. There are few easy outs among the potential targets occupied right now by Liberals and PCs. In other words, this race is not over, even with polls painting a rosy picture this week for the NDP.

As advance polls open Saturday, this is now Wab Kinew's election to lose.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/manitobas-election-is-now-the-ndps...

There has also been a substantial increase in advance poll voting, which is often a sign of a change election, as it often shows people are motivated to get rid of the government. 

Advance polling on track to surpass 2019 totals: Elections Manitoba

55,000 ballots already cast in Manitoba’s advanced polls

Advance polling in Manitoba is on track to surpass the numbers recorded during the last provincial election, according to election officials.

Calling it a “busy weekend of voting,” an official with Elections Manitoba says 55,000 ballots were cast in the first two-and-a-half days of advance voting.

“By comparison, in 2019, there was about 113,000 cast over all eight days, so we are coming up on 50 per cent of the 2019 total,” said Mike Ambrose, the director of communications and public information at Elections Manitoba.

While Ambrose admits there isn’t always a correlation between high numbers in the early ballot and overall voter turnout, he says it’s exciting for so many people to be already taking part in the vote.

https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2023/09/26/advance-polling-elections-manitoba/

Both the NDP and the Liberals are laying out plans to strengthen the French language in Manitoba. 

Two of Manitoba's main political parties highlighted their plans to help support the French language in the province on Tuesday.

The NDP says it will help support French education, culture, day care and health care if elected on Oct. 3. Leader Wab Kinew said at a news conference that includes restoring the assistant deputy minister role in the Bureau de l'Éducation française, a promise the party said would come with a $100,000 annual salary, and increasing funding for all levels of French-language education through its $20-million education budget.

Kinew made the announcement outside the St. Boniface Cathedral, flanked by members of Winnipeg's francophone community and St. Boniface NDP candidate Robert Loiselle. "This announcement here today — along with our great candidate and, you know, some of his team and members of the community — is a moment for us to reflect on the important role that the francophone community and the Métis people have played in creating the Manitoba that we know and love," Kinew said. He said the NDP would increase spending on French-language daycare spaces, develop a strategy to train and recruit more French teachers in partnership with l'Université de Saint-Boniface and work with la Société de la francophonie manitobaine and la Division scolaire franco-manitobaine to make investments based on their needs, like bolstering the number of French teachers and substitute teachers.

The party would also improve French service on the province's Info Santé health-care phone line, Kinew said, which would be paid for through its previous pledge to spend $500 million on health-care recruitment over four years. He also reiterated his promise to help pay for a new entrance to the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre in Winnipeg.

Later Tuesday, the Manitoba Liberal Party released a version of its own full election platform that had been translated into French, highlighting its promises to re-establish the Bureau d'éducation française and the Association des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba with stable long-term funding and addressing the shortage in the French-language education sector.  The party's platform said it will also increase funding for the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre to $900,000 per year, ensure the education department adequately encompasses all French-language education services and improve funding for French-language education in Manitoba. 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/manitoba-ndp-liberals-spotlight-fr...

"One Indigenous issue could topple Conservatives in Manitoba general election and install First Nations premier": an issue that "could impel indigenous people to turn out to vote".

This past weekend, Conservative Premier Heather Stefanson doubled down on her decision not to search the Prairie Green Landfill north of Winnipeg for the remains of two Long Plain First Nation’s women, Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris.

Stefanson’s decision in July came under heavy criticism by both local and national First Nations leaders. This past Saturday, the Progressive Conservatives ran a full-page advertisement in a local daily newspaper saying in a graphic that included Stefanson’s face, that her party would “stand firm…For health and safety reasons, the answer on the landfill dig just has to be no,” it read. “I personally don’t think this is the human approach to continue to talk about this. Is it connected to racism, not searching the landfill? I’m not sure about that, why they’re doing it in this case,” said Carrière, who is Cree-Métis from northern Saskatchewan. 

In a 2015 Maclean’s article, Winnipeg was singled out as the community “where Canada’s racism problem is at its worst.”

A Winnipeg Free Press-CTV poll conducted by Probe Research found that 72 per cent of NDP supporters wanted the landfill to be searched while 18 per cent of Progressive Conservatives were in favour. Kinew has promised an NDP government will search the landfill.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Grand Chief Cathy Merrick says it’s time that First Nations’ issues come off the backbench and that includes the landfill search. The AMC has worked with Elections Manitoba to make it easier for First Nations people to vote. A new Declaration of First Nation Guarantor for Proof of Identity signed by a member’s chief, councillor or band membership clerk will allow that member to vote on their reserve.

There have also been more polling stations, both advanced and day-of, opened on reserves. AMC also hosted a Rock the Vote event and a town hall debate with party representatives. “We are encouraging our people to go out to vote. That’s part of our Rock the Vote initiative, to be able to give an opportunity for our people to be able to go out and participate in the process,” said Merrick.

There are two schools of thought for First Nations people when it comes to voting in federal and provincial elections, says Carrière. There are those who worry that if they vote they could damage Indigenous nationhood. And there are those who want to have a say in the outcome of provincial and federal elections. “Even though there is, I think, concerns about what is it voting means for Indigenous sovereignty, I personally feel if you have the opportunity to vote, you should get out there and send that message because that’s an important process,” he said. “I don’t think that undermines who you are as an Indigenous person. Voting in provincial elections allows First Nations to influence policies impacting education, impacting the healthcare system, housing, resource management, resource sharing and shaping their daily life. The growing provincial involvement in the day to day lives of First Nations signals a potential shift of federal fiduciary responsibility to the provincial level,” said Merrick.

With six registered parties in the election, there are at least 18 Indigenous candidates. According to an APTN article, the Conservatives and Liberals have four Indigenous candidates each, while the NDP has 10.

While Carrière says he’s unclear if Indigenous votes in ridings can swing the outcome, he believes a high Indigenous voter turnout combined with a mediocre response from the non-Indigenous population could make a difference.

According to 2021 Statistics Canada data, Indigenous people comprise 14 per cent of Winnipeg’s population and 18.1 per cent of the overall Manitoba population. Of Manitoba’s 57 electoral divisions, 32 are in and around Winnipeg.

The AMC is not endorsing any party, says Merrick. “We just want a government that will work with our people. We want to be at the table when decisions are made on behalf of our people in the province of Manitoba,” she said. Merrick says that’s especially important as the federal government passes more and more of their responsibilities for First Nations on to provincial governments.

Whether Indigenous issues will get more attention under the NDP, Carrière says that hasn’t been seen in Kinew’s campaigning. He points to Kinew’s focus on health care. He also points to the political system. “The role is kind of limiting because (the Indigenous elected official) is a representative in Canadian politics, and so they have to represent all the people in their specific riding and their specific province. So being Indigenous doesn’t automatically mean that the Indigenous issues are going to be the first thing that the party does,” said Carrière.

As for whether the province’s Indigenous people should vote for the NDP because it’s led by a First Nation’s man, Carrière stresses that Indigenous people are diverse and they will follow their own priorities in choosing who they will vote for. However, both Merrick and Carrière are excited about the possibilities of having Kinew as the premier. “It’s a really good example of leadership and that’s something that can be looked at historically,” said Merrick.

Carrière views Kinew’s potential victory through a “role model angle. Seeing an Indigenous person achieve at the highest level is very inspirational for me. I’ve always drawn inspiration from seeing other Indigenous people achieve,” he said.

A mid-September Angus Reid poll had the NDP enjoying a six-percentage-point advantage over the Conservatives across the province. 

Merrick says First Nations will work with whoever is in power, whether it’s a new NDP government or a returned Progressive Conservative government. “We need to be part of the table, and we need to be part of that discussion. We need to be there and say what needs to be said because we have to protect our rights. We have to protect our treaty rights and our inherent rights, so we cannot rely on the government to do this for us,” she said.

https://fftimes.com/news/district-news/one-indigenous-issue-could-topple...

APTN Truth and Politics indigenous panelists Niijaan Sinclair and Kerry Benjoe discuss the series of attack ads against NDP leader Wab Kinew by the Conservatives at the url below:

https://www.aptnnews.ca/videos/conservatives-launch-series-of-attack-ads...

Manitoba PC campaign adviser Ken Lee is promoting Trump-style election fraud claims even before voting day occurs. "Lee, a former leadership candidate who was disqualified by the party but recently brought back as a campaign adviser during the election. Lee was himself under investigation by the Manitoba elections commissioner over allegations of the “wrongful sale” of party memberships to supporters during the 2021 leadership election."

In the final days of Manitoba’s provincial election, a controversial campaign adviser for Heather Stefanson’s Manitoba PCs is spreading unfounded allegations of election fraud on far-right livestreams ahead of voting day.

Ken Lee, a former leadership candidate who was disqualified by the party but recently brought back as a campaign adviser during the election, appeared on a September 26 Facebook livestream hosted by Winnipeg-based far-right activist Todd MacDougall.

MacDougall, host of the “Winnipeg Alternative Media” channel, is a former member of the “Proud Boys,” a group later designated as a terrorist entity in Canada.

During the appearance, Lee shared conspiratorial claims about election fraud, rigged voting machines as well as other unsubstantiated allegations about labour unions, the Manitoba NDP and Elections Manitoba.

“In your experience, the only party to really try to manipulate Elections Manitoba and get their hands involved directly in the process of what’s happening in the voting booths and voting sites is the NDP,” said MacDougall.

“Yeah,” Lee replied, before claiming he’s heard anecdotes labour unions are currently paying people “$5 per sign” to steal and destroy Manitoba PC lawn signs.

On social media, Lee previously made the same claim, alleging without evidence that an “organized mob” is trying to “steal an election.”

Lee later alleged that in past elections, the Manitoba NDP stole voting cards from mailboxes and “non-Canadians” were able to vote multiple times.

At one point during the livestream, Lee warned Manitoba is using voting machines manufactured by Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems, the same companies he suggests were responsible for the “fiasco in the states.”

“I finished voting and there was a lady there standing next to the voting machine,” the Manitoba PC campaign adviser said. “It was a Smartmatic machine, which we’ve heard about in the United States elections.”

“They can be altered, they can be hacked, they can be programmed.”

“I know they can be programmed,” Lee added. “I’ve heard that enough over the last couple of years since the 2020 fiasco in the states.”

“I just don’t trust the system, the system I don’t think has the proper controls in it,” Lee explained. “I don’t know if they’ve really tested it. What they should have done is maybe during some of those by-elections, maybe ran the old system with the new system, ran ’em both and made sure the numbers were the same at the end of the day.”

Dominion Voting Systems recently settled a lawsuit against Fox News for $787 million earlier this year over false claims about its voting machines. Smartmatic USA is also suing FOX News and five others for $2.7 billion over debunked vote rigging claims during the 2020 US presidential election.

During the livestream, Lee shared anecdotes about Elections Manitoba polling clerks allowing people to vote without logging information from their driver’s license, something Lee suggested could lead to people voting using someone else’s name.

“We have lots of people complaining about ‘I went to vote and they said I already voted and I haven’t voted,” Lee claimed.

“This sounds like so much like half of the stuff Trump and Republicans from around the country were going on about from the election in 2020 in America,” responded MacDougall. “These are a lot of very similar stories and tactics.”

Lee was himself under investigation by the Manitoba elections commissioner over allegations of the “wrongful sale” of party memberships to supporters during the 2021 leadership election.

Earlier this week, the Winnipeg Free Press reported Lee had “quietly returned” to help the Manitoba PC’s 2023 campaign, despite his past “criticism of Manitoba government vaccination requirements and public health orders earned him the support of People’s Party of Canada members and anti-vaxxers.”

The Free Press also noted Lee had been “disqualified” from running against Heather Stefanson for the Manitoba PC leadership in 2021 and later “organized a protest outside of PC headquarters in downtown Winnipeg,” accusing “the party of dirty tricks for keeping him off the leadership ballot.”

Marni Larkin, the Manitoba PC’s campaign manager, confirmed to the Free Press that Lee had rejoined the party’s 2023 campaign, describing Lee as “one of the smartest guys there is” and someone who “gives good advice.”

During the livestream, which aired a day before the Free Press article was published, Lee says party officials warned him the newspaper was planning a “hit piece” on him after receiving a phone call from Winnipeg Free Press reporter Carol Sanders:

“How could you let Ken Lee come back and why would he come back and help the party at this point in time? You wouldn’t let him in the leadership race, he’s PPC and he’s unvaxxed and he’s a Trump fan — and so the guy on the phone goes ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about? He’s a Trump fan? What does that even matter?'”

Lee said he would never respond to the Free Press’ request for comment because Sanders is a “horrible, horrible person.”

Ken Lee did not respond to a request for comment from PressProgress.

The Manitoba PC campaign also did not respond to questions from PressProgress about whether the party endorses Lee’s election fraud claims and if it has any doubts about the integrity of the vote.

https://pressprogress.ca/manitoba-pc-campaign-adviser-promoting-trump-st...

The title of the article summarizes the situation: "Weaponized by PCs, sidelined by NDP: Indigenous concerns largely absent from Manitoba election". It may be true that Wab Kinew had to take this route to not be perceived as focusing too much on indigenous issues in order to win a la Obama on racial issues, but it remains true. 

With Indigenous population growth outpacing the rest of the province, there may come a year where the needs of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples will be front and centre in a Manitoba election campaign. 

This was not that year. One of the two leading parties in this province spent the last 12 days of the formal election period campaigning for votes based of its opposition to searching the Prairie Green Landfill, north of Winnipeg, for the remains of two First Nations women police believe are the victims of a serial killer.  The other leading party, led by a man poised to potentially become the only First Nations premier in Manitoba history as of tomorrow, has chosen to tiptoe to some extent around Indigenous concerns, lest its leader and his party be deemed  too invested in First Nations voters' needs in the minds of the rest of the electorate.

The decision by Manitoba Progressive Conservatives to lean hard into its landfill search opposition in the latter days of this campaign may go down in provincial political history as one of the riskiest campaign moves ever made by this party. There are several forms of risk at play, the first being obvious: turning off socially progressive conservatives — in a province where red Tories remain a significant portion of the electorate — as part of an effort to fire up the most conservative members of their base.

"They're trying to defend their strongholds across the province, particularly what will be left of those strongholds in Winnipeg," said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba. "Some campaign managers just know that they have to get nasty with their messaging. It has to be hard-hitting at this late stage to grab voters' attention."

The PCs will learn tomorrow whether this gambit alienated those in the progressive wing of the party — leading those voters to stay home on election day or change their vote — more than it fired up other conservatives.  "I think a lot of people are saying 'this isn't the party that it used to be, that I used to support'," said University of Brandon political scientist Kelly Saunders. "People that feel that this party is veering too much to the right and going into those dog-whistle areas, like parental rights, and the landfill are associating Wab Kinew with crime."

The other form of risk is not so immediate. Party leader Heather Stefanson spent more than two decades in the Manitoba Legislature developing a reputation as a moderate consensus builder, but she could see her political legacy tarnished by the PC gambit. There are parallels between Stefanson and former St. Vital councillor Gord Steeves, who spent 11 years at Winnipeg's city hall, and was known as an affable, moderate politician who was more of a blue Liberal than a red Tory. After Steeves' run for mayor in 2014 initially faltered, he took his campaign hard to the right — raising questions about who he really was as a politician.

Saunders said voters may be asking similar questions about Stefanson.

"She doesn't seem like the same kind of person that she was before. Certainly when she first became premier, she spoke specifically about wanting to be more open, more inclusive, more conciliatory and more consensus-oriented as well, specifically on reconciliation issues. So this really flies in the face of that," Saunders said. "It's a little bit disjointed and I think confusing for voters to try to figure out exactly where she stands on these issues."

There may be some confusion, albeit to a far less dramatic extent, about Kinew during this campaign. For months, the NDP leader appears to have been walking a rhetorical tightrope that involves neither playing up his party's commitments to Indigenous peoples nor downplaying them. Even more significant was the moment during the televised leaders' debate when Kinew was asked about violent crime in Manitoba. The NDP leader, who is clearly well aware of the relationship between poverty and crime, somehow managed not to mention any aspect of the social determinants of crime. "When we talk about the causes of crime, I think we all know that it's drugs. For so many of the issues that we're seeing each and every day, it's drugs, it's addictions," Kinew said. This reductionist message, intended for a broad audience tuning into the only consensually experienced hour of the 28-day-long campaign, was very different from Kinew's subtle and tactical speech before party supporters at Canadian Mennonite University in August. While Kinew promised early on to engage in some form of good-faith landfill effort, the NDP largely avoided raising the Prairie Green search until Stefanson and the PCs decided to campaign on their stance. 

During that speech, Kinew didn't shy away from complexities. "Race is part of the landscape when it comes to safety in Manitoba. Indigenous people come up in our conversations about crime in this province," Kinew said at the time. "We all know the stats about the overrepresentation in jails, and in the courts, but there is something that is lost in the conversation my opponents want to have about public safety in Manitoba and it's a simple truth: Far too often in our province, Indigenous people are the victims of crime. And so do you want to know who wants real action and not rhetoric when it comes to public safety in Manitoba? Indigenous people." Thomas described Kinew's August speech as pre-emptive move against the PC attack ads that arrived in volume later in the campaign. "It was meant to inoculate him against his past as what the PCs portray as an angry Indigenous man. It was a speech he had to get ... out of the way and move on to talk about issues," Thomas said. "He's still not coming out full force and saying 'I'll be a premier who will be so responsive to Indigenous concerns, Indigenous people.' That is the reputation of the NDP. But he's been making a strong point over and over again: 'I'll govern on behalf of all Manitobans.' "

Saunders said she understands why Kinew did not place more of a spotlight on Indigenous concerns during this campaign. "Indigenous issues are a lightning rod and certainly you see the conservatives trying to make it even more of a lightning rod. So I think there's a sensitivity around that, whether you want to call it reconciliation fatigue, whether you want to call it our ability to not fully confront our colonialist past and the genocide that has impacted Indigenous peoples and continues to impact in this country," she said. "It just shows the underlying racism," she continued, "that unfortunately exists in a lot of pockets in our society." Saunders said she understands why Kinew "would want to walk delicately" around Indigenous concerns. "It's not like he would be denying his Indigeneity. Obviously that's an important part of who he is and his lived experience and how he looks at the world and issues, but it would be a challenging thing because you want to downplay it and I think you see that in some of his messaging, right?" she said. "You don't want to put that out front and centre because of the ways in which Indigeneity, Indigenous issues, and reconciliation have really been weaponized in a a lot of quarters."

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation provided Kinew with more of an opportunity be his authentic self and still speak to the broader community. "I want to say to Indigenous people, every time you dance at a powwow, every time you sing, every time you speak your language, you prove that the architects of the residential school era failed in their quest to destroy our cultures," Kinew told an audience Saturday at Canada Life Centre. "And I want to say to non-Indigenous people, thank you so much for coming out today and wearing orange, because when you stand together with the community, you prove that the architects of the residential school era were mistaken when they thought that Canadians and human beings from different walks of life could be divided."

If the NDP becomes the next government on Tuesday, the election of a First Nations premier will be a historic moment for Manitoba. But the pressure on Kinew to engage in a balancing act will continue, to the potential chagrin of Indigenous voters hoping for immediate change.

A PC victory, meanwhile, would offer Stefanson the opportunity to reconsider a more conciliatory approach with First Nations leaders in particular. At this point, that may be as steep a mountain for her to climb than winning her party another term.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/weaponized-by-pcs-sidelined-by-ndp...

Today the Manitoba NDP government and federal government announced a $633 million deal for healthcare in Manitoba. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew have announced more than $633 million in health-care funding.

Almost $434 million is to support Manitoba’s three-year plan to improve health care and about $199 million is to bolster care for seniors.

“Canadians value universal public health care. That’s why we’re signing agreements with provinces and territories to make health care work better for Canadians,” Trudeau said in a news release Thursday.“Today’s agreements with Manitoba will help hire more health workers, reduce wait times, support seniors, and make sure Canadians get the care they need, when they need it.”

In that news release, the governments say the “Working Together agreement” money is to support Manitoba’s goal to hire 400 more doctors, 300 more nurses, 200 paramedics and 100 homecare workers.

The province and Ottawa say they are also working to remove barriers for internationally trained doctors and health professionals to practice in Manitoba.

“Fixing the health care staffing shortage is job number one for our government – that means more support for the bedside instead of the bureaucracy,” said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. “We will work with the Government of Canada to hire more doctors and more nurses into our system, so we can start to cut wait times and deliver the best care possible for Manitobans.”

Just over a year ago, Ottawa announced $196 billion in funding over the next 10 years for provinces and territories to improve access to health care — about $46 billion of that is new money.

According to the joint release, the province says it will hire more psychologists to help reduce wait times and double hospital spaces for those experiencing homelessness and in need of health care.

“These investments will reduce wait times and help more Manitoba families and kids get the mental health care they need,” said Bernadette Smith, Manitoba’s minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness as well as the minister responsible for mental health. “It’s a key part of our plan to improve mental health services to ensure Manitobans are supported and well in their communities.”

Manitoba is the seventh province or territory to formally sign on to the accord, following British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario and the Northwest Territories.

All provinces and territories have agreed to the health accord in principle except for Quebec, which has balked at being accountable to Ottawa for how money is spent.

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/prime-minister-and-manitoba-premie...

The province of Manitoba has agreed to pay $530 million to settle "historic class action lawsuits that allege discrimination after the province clawed back hundreds of millions of dollars for children in care."

Three class action lawsuits were filed by more than a dozen CFS agencies(opens in a new tab) for the province’s breach of Charter rights for vulnerable children over its administration of Children’s Special Allowances (CSA) from Child and Family Services Agencies between 2005 and 2019.

 According to federal legislation, CSA payments are made to CFS Agencies as an equivalent to the Canada Child Benefit received by parents in Manitoba.

During the civil trial, court heard during a 13-year period, the province took back more than $335 million of the benefits through what lawyers called forced remittance and clawbacks.

“The settlement agreement on the CSA is long overdue,” said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc. Grand Chief Garrison Settee, in a news release. “Finally, First Nations children in the care of the CFS system who were denied a benefit by the government, will be compensated not just for the loss of benefits they were rightfully entitled to but for the terrible loss of opportunity the CSA was intended to provide.”

Subject to court approval, the $530 million settlement announced Monday aims to compensate affected children, cover legal fees, and administer funds to class members.

Manitoba Métis Federal President David Chartrand called the settlement a historic moment and a clear victory for children. "Through the settlement of the CSA and other mechanisms like Bill C-92, we can continue expanding our ability to protect our children, giving them every possible chance of success," Chartrand said in a news release. "The MMF will do what it takes to ensure that every child who is eligible for this settlement receives every penny they are owed."

According to a news release from Cochrane Saxberg LLP, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, the settlement will compensate every child affected by the CSA policy, including interest and additional money for other damages and costs through the creation of a resolution fund.

“Our government believes that every child matters and this agreement is an important step forward," said Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine in a news release. "This money was supposed to be used for the advancement for some of the most vulnerable children in our society, and it was taken from them. This settlement is an example of how our government is prioritizing reconciliation through action."

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/province-settles-530-million-class-action-la....

The climate crisis is causing some species around the world and in Manitoba to disappear, as well as causing some diseases to become more prevalent. 

With the planet warming due to the effects of climate change, some species in Manitoba and around the world are starting to die off.

Though some types of plants are tolerant of temperature changes and drought conditions, certain species are becoming rarer over time due to heat waves, with climate change also causing certain diseases to become more prevalent.

“Sugar pines for example and some of the other pine species are actually dying off at lower elevations because it’s just too hot for them to survive anymore,” said Diana Bizecki Robson, who is the curator of botany at the Manitoba Museum.

Bizecki Robson noted that even some species that are typically more tolerant of dry conditions, including cacti, are having trouble surviving.

“They need to breathe at night,” she said. “But the temperature hasn’t been getting low enough at night for them to open their special little air holes and there have been some saguaro cactus actually dying off.”

In Manitoba specifically, Bizecki Robson said there is a wide range of vegetation that shifts from forest to grassland depending on the climate.

However, as the climate changes some species might start dying out in places where they were once abundant. This includes forests becoming grasslands, grasslands becoming deserts, and deserts becoming devoid of vegetation.

“We could see some of those changes happening in Manitoba with parkland areas becoming grasslands in the future,” she explained.

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/climate-change-causing-plant-species-to-die-...