Throne Speech rich with unprovable pledges

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This article was published 21/11/2017 (2889 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

This 18th Century Scottish proverb argues that if wishing something to be true was enough, even the most downtrodden in society would get everything they want.

It’s also, unofficially, the theme of Premier Brian Pallister’s third Speech from the Throne.

Delivered Tuesday at the Manitoba Legislature before the usual collection of dignitaries, lobbyists and interested citizens, this throne speech was a thunderous triumph in wish making. And that is saying something.

Designed as the starting pistol for the launch of a new legislative session, the throne speech has traditionally been an exercise in aspirational politics, regardless of which party is in power. Not necessarily a hard accounting of what we have done and where we are, but rather what we’d like to do and where we’d like to end up.

Even so, this was a speech distinguished by an unusually high number of gratuitous, unprovable promises and immeasurable claims.

From better lives for poor children to an elimination of chronic disease, repaired relationships with Indigenous people and end to gender-based violence, this was a speech with ambition. Whether there will be corresponding plans and resources to make any of it come to fruition is another matter entirely.

First, let’s look at the items in the speech that had some connection to reality.

The speech made reference to the Pallister government’s ongoing pledge to fix the provinces finances, a claim that is largely true even if the manner in which the fix is being provided is a bit harsh. With a stern austerity agenda, the Tories have slowed spending and produced modest reductions in the deficit. Given the transparency of government finances, this is definitely a pledge we can follow and measure.

The speech also outlined plans to provide “better health care, sooner,” which is definitely the goal of an ongoing reorganization of Winnipeg hospitals, province-wide clinical standards and rural EMS stations. Although it’s too soon to determine whether these initiatives are successful, the government is delivering seismic change. And thanks to provincial and national monitoring of health care outcomes, we’ll eventually get lots of data on which to judge the government’s pledge.

Beyond those two items, however, the speech was short on the quantifiable.

You can’t start with an analysis of the Pallister government’s affinity for the unprovable pledge without talking about the premier’s frequently stated goal of making Manitoba “Canada’s most-improved province.” Unveiled during the 2016 election, it found a prominent place once again in the throne speech.

Of all the claims and pledges that Pallister has made in his time in office, this is the one that remains the most problematic. What does it mean? How would we even begin to measure our progress in achieving this goal?

What if journalists and political analysts used the same approach to commenting on the affairs of the Pallister government? “This week’s throne speech contained more empty claims and promises than any other throne speech in the history of the Manitoba Legislature.” It’s ridiculous and unfair because you couldn’t possibly prove it.

Like the claim that the government is launching a “public service transformation strategy,” which the premier said would help “revitalize” the provincial civil service. After nearly two years of bitter combat with public sector unions — an ongoing battle that has resulted in hundreds of layoffs and the threat of legislated wage freezes — the launch of a “transformation strategy” seems a bit precious.

The premier is right when he talks about the need to rebuild the civil service to ensure it has the skills and expertise to improve the kind and delivery of services on a cost-effective basis. However, given his tendency to provoke unions and disparage civil servants, it’s unclear that he is the premier to lead that “transformation.”

Or, we could look at the speech’s claim that the Tory government “embarked on the largest consultation process in Manitoba history” to gauge reaction to a series of initiatives, including carbon taxes, cannabis legalization and budget measures. Yes, the province did get lots of responses to its various online surveys and town halls. But, no, this did not constitute meaningful consultation.

Two facts must make their way into Pallister’s narrative on consultation. First, online survey results are not representative of public opinion, and thus do not represent meaningful consultation.

And, two, Pallister did not invent, or even re-invent, consultation. If we’re going to use “all of history” as the context, then let’s acknowledge that previous governments used a variety of means to consult with the citizenry, often in more meaningful ways.

Pallister believes that Manitoba needs tough medicine to correct its fiscal course. In the process of doing just that, he has made many tough decisions. Increases in funding to core services has been cut way back, transfers to municipalities have been reduced, and capital projects have been mothballed. Jobs have been lost.

Unfortunately, rather than admit what he’s doing and defend his decisions, Pallister is trying to fool people into thinking that his often indiscriminate austerity is part of a more thoughtful, methodical plan. In other words, the premier keeps serving up vinegar while telling everyone it’s Cabernet Sauvignon.

It’s okay for politicians to dream. Greatness is rarely accomplished by people who set their sights too low.

All that said, the premier should remember that unfathomable claims, on their own, don’t make for a better world.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca