A tale of two candidates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2016 (3749 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you want to see what happens when you launch a provincial election campaign with limited resources and limited candidates, look no further than the Manitoba Liberals.

Businessman Jamie Hall was nominated Tuesday to run in Southdale. On Wednesday afternoon, he was forced to face the media over questionable comments he made regarding women on social media. For instance, in one 2012 tweet, he asked: “If a whore screams in the bedroom, and no one is around to hear it, is she really a whore?”

At Wednesday’s news conference, Mr. Hall suggested his comments were sarcasm and promotion for his book: 7 Deadly Women. The book is self-published through iUniverse and is summarized as the adventures of Jason Mytez trying to find love and money in the dating world. It’s not likely to be a bestseller anytime soon. It’s sophomoric at best.

Interestingly enough, Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari — who has never shied away from a photo op — was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Mike Brown, the Liberals communications director, was forced to stand beside Mr. Hall.

On Wednesday morning, Ms. Bokhari described Mr. Hall as “the kind of candidate that Manitobans should be excited about.” On Thursday morning, Ms. Bokhari accepted his resignation. Her news release stated: “Manitobans have every right to expect and demand a high standard of their candidates and MLAs. We are Liberals and we hold ourselves to a higher standard.”

It is clear there hasn’t been a steady lineup of candidates rushing to run for the Grits, despite the party’s surge in popularity. Many of the candidates that are running have been uncontested in their nomination. The party’s vetting process was put on hold because Ms. Bokhari feared it slowed the process of announcing candidates.

That’s a misstep. If the party is committed to ensuring it runs good candidates, vetting must occur. But in Mr. Hall’s case, a Google search by a 15-year-old would have laid bare his past.

On the other hand, if you want to see what happens when you launch a provincial election campaign with a party so far down in the polls that long-time MLAs seem to be jumping ship in record numbers, look to the Manitoba NDP and its move to embrace Wab Kinew for Fort Rouge as the next big thing. Because he, too, has demonstrated questionable judgment in his media persona.

Mr. Kinew, a hip-hop artist and former University of Winnipeg administrator, once released, among others, a song entitled Stank Bitch. In his musical work, he has called women bitches, excrement, the c-word and slut.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

Wednesdays

A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom.

Sign up for Paul Samyn | Editor's Note

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

In his recent book, Mr. Kinew does apologize for his misogynistic lyrics. He said at the time he thought they were “funny or had shock value” but now understands there is no excuse, particularly given the violence against women, and indigenous women, in Canada. There was no such apology for language some consider homophobic.

However, the book was published three years after he performed his controversial music in 2012 and only months before he announced he would be running for the NDP. Has he been rehabilitated? The jury will decide April 19.

While three years may be enough time to pass for voters to look the other way on questionable behaviour, recall that Winnipeg mayoral candidate Gord Steeves’ wife was rightly criticized for racist comments she made on Facebook four years before the October 2014 campaign. An apology was offered, but the Steeves campaign never fully recovered.

So, on one hand, we have a candidate who made an apology for his crass and hateful attitude toward women and was asked to step down. On the other hand, we have a candidate who also apologized but is now considered the golden child for a political party.

No wonder voters are cynical.