Pledge machine on high: NDP races to beat election blackout

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This article was published 15/01/2016 (3749 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The news-release machine is on overdrive, and the premier and his ministers are fanning out across the province, making promise after promise before a 90-day blackout on government announcements takes effect in the lead-up to the April 19 general election.

As of Wednesday, Manitoba election laws will prevent the NDP from using its advantage as the party in power to win over voters with expensive government pledges.

This week, Premier Greg Selinger and his ministers have been particularly active. Through Thursday, the premier and his ministers had called or participated in 17 news conferences.

Some have involved big pledges, such as tens of millions of dollars for new daycare spaces, while others have been head scratchers — such as an invitation to accompany Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Steve Ashton to East Selkirk to view the province’s fleet of ice-cutters and ice-breakers, which have been retrofitted for another season.

As of Thursday at 5 p.m., the government had issued 62 news releases this month, including 35 this week. Ten were fired off electronically to media outlets and other subscribers on Thursday alone.

In a typical month, the government issues 30 to 35 news releases.

The combined cost of government pledges made over the past few weeks is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

That has the Opposition Progressive Conservatives and Liberals crying foul. They accuse the NDP of trying to buy citizens’ votes with their own money.

“These are not government announcements of imminent changes to affect the lives of Manitobans. These are campaign promises and should be done on the campaign trail and not on the public dime,” said Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari.

PC Leader Brian Pallister said the avalanche of announcements represents a desperate bid by the government to “spend its way back to power.”

“What I see is such a disrespect for the common sense of Manitobans,” he added.

Selinger dismissed these criticisms Thursday, saying the government is simply setting out a clear vision for the future, building upon plans sketched out in its Nov. 16 throne speech.

“We’re making sure we have a strong plan to grow the economy, to look after families, to make sure young people get educated and we look after our parents and people who need health care. That is the responsibility of government,” Selinger said.

He noted although the dollar figure of his promises seems high, the outlays would be made over five to seven years.

Meanwhile, the announcements are expected to continue at a fever pitch until the blackout period begins Wednesday.

As of Thursday evening, the government had already served notice of three news conferences for today, including two by the premier.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca