View From the Legislature

There have been a number of changes in Manitoba politics over the past few months. Following the resignation of former Premier Brian Pallister in August, I was honoured to serve as Premier while the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba elected a new leader who would then become the province’s 24th Premier.

On October 30th, Heather Stefanson was elected as the new leader of the P.C. Party and on November 2nd, she took the oath of office to become Manitoba’s Premier and the first woman to hold the highest political office in our province. Since then, Premier Stefanson has been busy meeting with Manitobans and setting a new course at the Manitoba Legislature including filling a number of key staff and other advisory positions.

I have returned to the job that I held before my tenure as Premier. I am once again serving as Deputy Premier, Minister of Legislative and Public Affairs and Government House Leader. I look forward to continuing to work in these roles as the new Premier considers the future composition of her cabinet.

As a sign that the normal operations of the Manitoba Legislature are resuming, the date of a new Throne Speech and the resumption of the sitting of the Manitoba Legislature was announced last week. The start of the new session of the Manitoba Legislature and the Throne Speech will take place on Tuesday November 23rd. The Throne Speech will set out the vision for the new Premier and the government for the year ahead.  It will focus on health care, education, the economy, jobs, and reconciliation.

In addition to the changes that have happened in terms of the Premier’s office, there will also be a vacant seat in the Legislature this fall. As a result of the resignation of Brian Pallister both as Premier and then subsequently as the MLA for Fort Whyte, there will be a by-election called in that constituency before spring of next year as it needs to be called within six months of it becoming a vacant seat. The next general election is set for the fall of 2023.

The past 19 months have been disruptive in many ways across society and that has been true at the Manitoba Legislature as well. There has needed to be adaptation in terms of how sessions are held and in recent months flexibility as a leadership race was ongoing. Yet, there is an importance in a democratic system to having predictability and structure and I look forward to the Legislature resuming in a couple of weeks along a traditional calendar with new vision and focus.