View From the Legislature

Last week Manitobans witnessed a relatively rare event in provincial politics as the sitting government kicked out one of their own MLAs from the Caucus. The departing NDP MLA, Mark Wasyliw, was determined not to go quietly and levelled several charges against Premier Wab Kinew, accusing him of being a dysfunctional person leading a dysfunctional government.

What made this all the more surprising is that it hasn’t even been a full year since the NDP assumed government. To be sure, it often takes a new government some time to find its footing, but after a year it seems like the NDP are becoming more dysfunctional, not less. Looking beyond the comments of the now former NDP MLA (who would have seen the dysfunction from the inside), there are growing external signs that the NDP are still struggling to grab hold of the wheel of government.

Recently, the NDP cut the funding for rent top-ups for some of the most vulnerable people in the province. Shockingly, they provided essentially no notice to these individuals or the organizations that support them, leaving them vulnerable to homelessness. This from a government who ran in the last election on ending homelessness. When asked by members of the media for a rationale as to why this funding was cut without notice, Premier Kinew indicated that he heard about it on the radio.

Having served in government for many years, this seems implausible. For starters, a decision of this magnitude would almost always be communicated to the Premier if for no other reason than they are surely going to be asked questions about it the minute it becomes public. As well, simply from a procedural perspective, this is the type of decision that likely came from the NDP provincial Treasury Board. Recommendations of the Treasury Board go to the provincial Cabinet for sign off. The Premier is the chair of Cabinet. So, the suggestion that he knew nothing about it is very difficult to understand.

Another accusation that has been made against Premier Kinew from within his Caucus is that there is too much focus on crafting an image and not enough on governing. The reality is that in today’s world of politics, image is not unimportant. But it cannot replace the actual work of governing which requires serious thought and important decisions to be made. It also requires an extraordinary amount of dedication and work.

While the NDP ran last year on the promise of quick fixes to challenges, without actually describing how that would happen, after a year it seems like the opposite is happening. Just this week a new poll was released that indicated that residents of Winnipeg, where the NDP won most of their seats, feel that things are getting worse, not better. In the areas of road conditions, community safety and affordability, Winnipeg residents feel things are getting worse and not better. And Manitobans who have been waiting for surgery after the NDP cancelled surgery options for hip and knee replacements, know that situation is getting worse as well.

It has now been almost a year since the NDP won government. There has been significant time to learn the ropes of government and to begin implementing the quick fixes the NDP promised to the challenges that exist. Instead, what we are getting are NDP MLAs alleging dysfunction while the Premier tells Manitobans he isn’t sure what is happening in his own government.