Many eyes on Kinew as legislature resumes Wednesday

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This article was published 04/10/2017 (2983 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It should shock no one if Wab Kinew’s first question to the government as Manitoba’s official opposition leader Wednesday will be about health care.

An ongoing systemic upheaval to Manitoba’s health care system has already this week seen the closing of the emergency room at Victoria General Hospital and the urgent care centre at Misericordia Health Centre.

When the legislature sitting resumes at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday for the first time since early June, Premier Brian Pallister and Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen will surely be asked by the new NDP leader about Pallister’s recent musings about potential health care premiums.

Since Pallister’s government took office in May of 2016, the opposition under former interim leader Flor Marcelino has been criticized as ineffectual. Will Kinew look like a future premier?

Keep in mind that this is a resumption — the throne speech comes Nov. 21 — so all outstanding business is still on the table.

Manitoba is still a holdout on Ottawa’s national climate change strategy. Will we finally see Pallister’s made-in-Manitoba plan for carbon pricing?

Similarly, will the Tories finally get serious about preparing for legalized pot next July 1, or will the province continue to harangue Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a delay?

The wage control Bill 28 has been passed but not proclaimed. It calls for 120,000 public sector workers’ next collective bargaining agreement to have zero increase in wages and benefits the first two years, 0.75 per cent the third year, and 1.0 per cent the fourth.

Three months and counting since a coalition of 25 major labour unions challenged the constitutionality of Bill 28 in court, the province has yet to file a statement of defence.

Meanwhile, Bill 29 has also been passed but not proclaimed. It forces health care workers to reduce dozens of bargaining units into a mere handful.

And then there’s Churchill. Severe flooding washed out the rail line in May, disconnecting residents of the northern Manitoba community from the rail service that locals have described as a lifeline to the south. The rail line is still not operational, and winter is coming.

The NDP had the right to designate five bills that would be held over until the fall, and all five should draw crowds to evening committee hearings this month. The house leaders were still discussing a schedule Tuesday.

One bill would legalize vehicle-for-hire operators such as Uber. An omnibus bill reduces red tape, but contains at least 15 disparate and contentious issues. There are election law changes, and the scrapping of the fresh fish marketing board. And a fifth would allow colleges and universities to increase tuition fees annually by five per cent plus the cost-of-living.

One important piece of legislation on the order paper is the Concussion in Youth Sport Act, which may not see much opposition, but could draw considerable interest.

Throughout it all, many eyes will be on the new NDP leader. Kinew should know by now what it’s like to be under a microscope. Will the Tories throw his much-discussed personal history in his face every time he asks a question? Can he be an effective opposition leader, and will his senior opposition critics be able to hold the Tories to account on policy?

Meanwhile, the Liberals elect a new leader Oct. 21, but they’re still not an official party, and will continue to get just one question a day.

Pallister has one new cabinet minister, Municipal Affairs Minister Jeff Wharton, a portfolio that hasn’t drawn much heat from the NDP so far.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca