Dan Lett

Outsiders’ gripes aside, no need to alter rules for mayor’s cabinet

A mayoral election could be — perhaps should be — an opportunity to make structural changes in the way council and city hall works. Lamentably, few candidates take advantage of that opportunity.

Not that the issues and pledges raised in this campaign are insufficient to inspire interest; in fact, this campaign has produced more reasonable-to-good ideas than other mayoral races have. It’s just that ideas about how to make council work better seem to be few and far between.

And of the ideas that do come forward, most skew to the naive and ineffective end of the impact spectrum. Like the endless fascination with changing Executive Policy Committee.

EPC is correctly described as the mayor’s cabinet, an executive-level gathering of councillors who work closely with the mayor to implement ideas and manage issues. Currently, that includes six councillors serving as chairs of civic committees, the deputy mayor and the acting deputy mayor.

Tax policy key to unlocking minimum-wage debate

It’s never a good idea to start off by saying a story published in this newspaper isn’t really news, but I’m going to do it anyway: the disagreement between labour and business on a new minimum wage is one of the least surprising stories of the summer.

For all the right reasons, labour wants people to reap more for their hard work; business is just as justified in its desire to keep labour costs at a reasonable level. The fact that both sides are right is not, however, creating any consensus.

The Manitoba minimum wage is scheduled to rise to $12.35/hr in October, but there is pressure, with inflation running white hot, to go even further. If the Progressive Conservative government wants to do that, it has to make an announcement by (ironically) Labour Day.

Labour representatives would like to see it rise to $16.15/hr, which they argue is a living wage in Manitoba. Business types are opposed, claiming it would cripple industries that rely on minimum-wage labour.

Project Dioxide data price tag raises further questions

What price would you put on the public’s right to know the details of a secret RCMP investigation into former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz and other key figures involved in questionable multimillion-dollar real estate and land development transactions?

The value for the taxpaying public would be priceless. Manitoba Justice, on the other hand, is willing to turn over the information for the low, low price of $32,000.

That was the fee estimate it put on the release of information about Project Dioxide, an RCMP investigation into real estate transactions including the construction of four Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service stations. The projects all involved Shindico Realty, a firm owned by Sandy Shindleman, a close personal and business friend of Katz (mayor from 2004-14) and former city chief administrative officer Phil Sheegl.

The fee is excessive, punitive and suggests Manitoba Justice has something embarrassing or compromising to hide from public view. That something may explain why, after years of police investigation, prosecutors decided not to file charges against anyone involved in the deals.

Tories see no monkeypox, speak no monkeypox

On Thursday, the same day the United States declared monkeypox a public health emergency, and a full two weeks after the World Health Organization categorized the outbreak as a global health emergency, health officials in Manitoba opted to embrace a strategy of complete and utter silence.

Manitoba did develop a protocol in June to immunize anyone who had confirmed contact with a confirmed case. But since then, we’ve had no public warnings or education, no news briefings to describe the threat level in Manitoba or to reveal the level of preparedness in the public health system.

At this stage, we don’t know how much vaccine Manitoba has and whether it has any chance of getting more should monkeypox officially get out of hand.

In the face of a new public health threat, we got silence. Deathly, incomprehensible silence.

Stefanson takes step north to open distance on Pallister

A lot of people, both inside and outside the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party, have been urging Premier Heather Stefanson to move quickly to forge a new brand and break free of the legacy of her predecessor.

To date, Stefanson hasn’t put much distance between herself and Brian Pallister. But, in fairness, the actual task of rebranding is a lot more difficult and complex in reality than it is in theory.

Stefanson cannot deliver seismic change too far outside the comfort level of core party supporters. On the other hand, without some sort of new approach, the Tories won’t recapture support it has lost from non-core voters necessary to form government.

What’s a premier to do? How about dedicating public funds to address a priority — one easily defended to voters of all party affiliations — that was systematically ignored by your predecessor?

Epidemiologists told us so, but we keep letting COVID rule our lives

When governments around the world started to eliminate social and economic pandemic restrictions earlier this year, it was based on a common-held dream: with vaccinations and higher levels of natural immunity through infections, we could fight off COVID-19 and return to a more or less normal life.

COVID-19, we were told, would evolve into a nuisance much like the common cold. In other words, although unpleasant, it was something we could certainly live with.

Epidemiologists and public health experts denounced this dream, and warned that doing nothing to control the spread of COVID-19 would plunge us into an endless pandemic as new variants became more aggressive and successful at evading natural or vaccine-induced immunity. They cautioned that COVID-19, even though it sometimes produces mild symptoms, would make us feel very, very sick.

On behalf of those who offered those warnings, I offer a simple but powerful message: they told you so.

Ghosting voters cardinal sin for politicians

There are few things a politician can do to anger the electorate more than promising publicly to meet with someone or some group and then ghosting them. It’s the kind of betrayal that can tarnish a government’s reputation and sink a political career.

If two recent examples are any indication, it’s a long-standing betrayal that remains in practice today.

The first example involves Health Minister Audrey Gordon. In April, she generated headlines with a plan to travel throughout her Southdale riding with an actual couch that she would plop down in parks and other public spaces to have unscripted, unscheduled conversations with constituents.

The plan was heavily debated, with some squirming at the awkward idea of a front-bench cabinet minister perched on a couch in a park. Others applauded her efforts to try something different to engage with residents of Southdale, a constituency that current polling shows is very much in play.

Spotlight on catalytic converters seeks to erase black market

It is well-known whatever government does — even the obvious, much-needed and totally justified things — someone will be unhappy about it. We need look no further for proof than Manitoba’s recent efforts to combat the black market for catalytic converters.

On Monday, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen confirmed new regulations to force dealers in auto parts, scrap metal and metal recycling to collect more information from anyone selling a catalytic converter.

Now, anyone purchasing a catalytic converter will have to photograph the seller, the vehicle they are using, their photo identification and details of how they came to own the exhaust emission control device.

The theory is asking for sellers to fully identify themselves or prove ownership will make it harder for thieves to sell stolen converters, thus curbing such criminal efforts.

Winnipeg mayoral candidates living in a dream world

After listening to all of the promises uttered by mayoral candidates ahead this fall’s civic election, it’s not hard to believe a new and improved Winnipeg is within our grasp.

Imagine a city with EV-charging stations at every civic facility. And, what about grounding the police helicopter in favour of new police ground-level teams that would stamp out violent crime?

Let’s not forget safe-consumption sites for drug addicts to reduce overdoses and get more people into treatment and out of a life of crime that’s needed to feed their habit. And while we’re at it, how does hundreds of millions of dollars for youth recreation facilities and programs sound?

Tory government betting on wrong numbers

It is often said, in the heat of political battle, combatants have the right to their own opinions but they do not have the right to their own version of the facts.

When it comes to the debate over the future of Manitoba Hydro, that essential principal seems to have eluded the Progressive Conservative government.

For several years, the Tories have attempted to severely limit Public Utilities Board authority over Hydro rate applications. Former premier Brian Pallister and current Premier Heather Stefanson both introduced legislation that would essentially gut any hope of an independent review and give cabinet new authority to control rates.

When asked why, both Pallister and Stefanson and their ministers have repeatedly claimed the cost to Hydro for a PUB rate application hearing is $10 million annually, an expense that was, in and of itself, driving up electricity rates.

No place for politics behind wheel of crime of opportunity

The Winnipeg Police Service recently did an excellent job of acknowledging carjackings — the oft-violent theft of an occupied vehicle — are on the rise.

Police confirmed last week, in the first four months of 2022, there have been 59 reported carjackings. It is a pace that far exceeds the last three years, when the city logged an average of 120 occupied vehicle thefts annually.

WPS also did a good job of explaining it believes the spike in carjackings was due to increased “desperation” among those with substance abuse problems.

Murray entry makes good mayoral race better

Now that former mayor Glen Murray has officially entered the 2022 Winnipeg race — a madcap affair featuring 11 registered candidates — we can be sure of only one thing.

It’s not going to be dull.

The mercurial Murray, who has spent the last few years working in Winnipeg as a consultant, has a wealth of political experience. Under the category of “former,” he has been mayor of Winnipeg (1998-2004), a federal Liberal candidate, Ontario member of provincial parliament, Ontario cabinet minister, Ontario Liberal leadership candidate and federal Green party leadership candidate.

Retracing his steps to Winnipeg city hall may seem like an odd choice at this stage in his career. But if his performance at a casual campaign launch Wednesday in the city hall courtyard is any indication, he does not lack ideas or passion.

Long way to go between current poll, future results

For NDP Leader Wab Kinew, the most recent Free Press-Probe Research poll results contain both good and bad news.

The good news is, well, pretty darn good. The early June survey showed the NDP out in front of the governing Progressive Conservatives and Premier Heather Stefanson with a comfortable 10-point lead provincially — and an alarmingly high 27-point lead in Winnipeg, where most elections are decided.

The good news continues when you look at key regions and demographics: Kinew has the highest approval rating of any of the three main party leaders; the New Democrats are very popular with women in Winnipeg (a key electoral group); the NDP enjoys gaudy leads in both southwest and southeast Winnipeg, two areas of the city where Tories currently dominate but which appear to be lining up as potential gains for the NDP.

New poll pushes Stefanson further behind eight ball

There is no debate: Premier Heather Stefanson is leading a government headed towards electoral disaster. The big question for Progressive Conservatives is whether she can somehow turn things around in the roughly 17 months she has left.

According to the most-recent Free Press/Probe Research poll results — a survey of 1,000 Manitobans conducted in the first two weeks of June — the hill Stefanson must climb to triumph in the fall 2023 election has gotten even steeper.

If an election were held today, 45 per cent of respondents would vote NDP, with 35 per cent supporting the Tories and 13 per cent voting Liberal. (According to Probe, with a sample of 1,000, one can say with 95 per cent certainty the poll results are within plus/minus 3.1 percentage points. The margin of error is higher within each of the survey’s population sub-groups.)

Fiscal windfall could be political downfall

The Progressive Conservative government of Manitoba is about to receive a billion dollars worth of good financial news from a most unusual source: Manitoba Hydro’s Keeyask generating station.

Thanks to geo-political events and higher-than-average water levels, Hydro is on the verge of one of its most successful years. Ever.

Historic snowfall and relentless spring rains have pushed river and lake levels to the brim, providing more than enough water to drive the turbines at all of Hydro’s generating stations, including the seven new units at Keeyask. That will generate enough electricity to boost exports to levels not seen in more than a decade.

However, that’s not all. The spot market Hydro is selling into is red hot.

World changes, Winnipeg traffic woes remain same

I had a dream the COVID-19 pandemic, whenever it started to recede, would reinvent our approach to urban transportation.

I dreamt of a world in which our morning and afternoon commutes were not choked with single-passenger vehicles. A world where hybrid working arrangements slashed rush-hour vehicle volume and reduced overall greenhouse gas emissions to stave off the ravages of climate change.

It would be a world where more Winnipeggers would use the southwest corridor bus rapid transit line that extends to the University of Manitoba and, in so doing, create a clear and compelling case for more BRT development.

And, perhaps, a world where Winnipeg’s notoriously aggressive and discourteous drivers simply took their foot off the gas pedal and waved the car in front of them to change lanes with no recrimination.

No excuse for premier skipping Pride parade

Listening to Premier Heather Stefanson attempting to explain her decision to skip the Pride parade last weekend in Winnipeg, I could not help but think of actor John Belushi.

Bear with me.

Stefanson is under fire from Pride Winnipeg for not walking in the annual march in support of the city’s LGBTTQ+ community June 5. Although she did speak at a pre-parade rally, organizers said the Tory premier was told repeatedly: every politician who is allowed to address the rally is required to march in the parade.

It’s both or nothing.

Shaky Crown performance in police trial shakes trust in justice system

Did the Crown take a dive?

There are many questions swirling around the recent acquittal of Winnipeg Police Service Sgt. Sean Cassidy, who, while off-duty, had been accused of chasing down landscaper Jamie Cote, pulling him from his vehicle and attacking him.

What exactly happened between the two men in La Salle where the confrontation began? Who chased whom on the highway into Winnipeg? How much force was used to get Cote out of his vehicle?

All those pale in comparison to the biggest concern hovering over this case: was this a prosecution deliberately designed to fail?

Tory cabinet minister’s exit may be sign of things to come

It’s not a stampede yet. But it will have to do until the stampede gets here.

On Monday morning, when most journalists were still mainlining their first cup of coffee, a news release confirmed Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development Minister Scott Fielding, Tory MLA for Kirkfield Park, was leaving politics immediately to pursue opportunities in the private sector.

Almost before the ink was dry on that news release, the questions started.

In resigning his post, is Fielding an outlier, the exception to the rule for a Progressive Conservative caucus that will circle the wagons to fight for Premier Heather Stefanson? Or is this just the first in a series of high-profile Tories choosing flight over fighting for their political lives in the 2023 provincial election?

Stefanson’s push to reduce Hydro oversight likely fuelled by silence

Why would Premier Heather Stefanson forge ahead with plans to dramatically reduce the frequency and scope of regulatory oversight for Manitoba Hydro rates in the face of mounting opposition? The explanation may come from the last two paragraphs of a story that appeared in Wednesday’s Free Press.

The story focused on a campaign launched by the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition — a diverse group with a pronounced emphasis on environmental issues — to stop Bill 36. The coalition is just the latest voice to join a broad and powerful constituency of opponents that believe Bill 36 is dangerous: consumer advocates, anti-poverty groups, large industrial power users and First Nations lobbies.

And yet, despite all the concern that’s been expressed, Stefanson pushes forward with the bill. Why she insists on doing this is a point of great debate both inside and outside the Progressive Conservative government.

Largely thanks to former premier Brian Pallister, the Tories have been enveloped by an irrational fixation with Manitoba Hydro. In particular, the Tories contend the former NDP government mismanaged the construction of the Keeyask generating station and Bipole III transmission line, adding billions to the Crown utility’s debt.