Liberals bask in sunny ways

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This article was published 05/03/2016 (3597 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Liberals have a spring in their step as they head into a provincial election campaign with better prospects than they’ve had in decades.

The sense of optimism was palpable at the party’s two-day annual general meeting that concluded Saturday evening.

Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari, looking more confident at the podium at Saturday’s banquet speech than she did a year earlier, said the party should aim high as the campaign nears. Manitobans go to the polls April 19.

“As the proud daughter of immigrants, as a farm girl from rural Manitoba, as a woman in politics and as a passionate Canadian, I am running to be the next premier of our great province,” she told an enthusiastic audience of about 225 people.

For the first time in decades, such a claim from a Liberal leader didn’t ring entirely hollow. Some polls place the Liberals second in popularity behind the Opposition Tories and ahead of the governing NDP.

Bokhari reiterated several recent Liberal promises — including bringing more mental-health services under medicare, ushering in a ride-sharing service such as Uber and launching a pilot study to test the introduction of a minimum guaranteed income — while stressing, at age 38, that she is a younger generation of leader than either of her main competitors. (Premier Greg Selinger is 65, while Tory leader Brian Pallister is 61.)

“On April 19 we can choose not just a new government but a new generation of leadership… ” she said.

Reacting to a report that suggested there were tensions between the federal and provincial wings of the party, Bokhari strayed from her speaking notes to stress the two groups are united. She also introduced several members of the federal Liberal election machine, who she said are working to prepare provincial candidates for next month’s vote.

Earlier in the day, in a lively “meet the candidates session,” attended by most of the 42 party hopefuls nominated so far, Bokhari exhorted her troops to drum up cash and volunteers to the cause. 

“If we have any regrets on April 20, it’s going to be that somebody thought, ‘Oh, I should (have) helped but didn’t help,’” she told a session punctuated by repeated standing ovations as candidates from across the province spoke.

Among them were two municipal councillors outside Winnipeg who gave up their political jobs to run provincially, a recent NDP provincial executive member who crossed to the Grits and a former interim leader of the Manitoba Greens.

Although Bokhari was criticized last week for taking more than a day to part company with Southdale candidate Jamie Hall over his sexist and misogynistic language in social-media posts, it did not appear to be an issue at the AGM. 

In an interview, party president Paul Hesse, a local lawyer, said the party has a comprehensive vetting process, but it clearly wasn’t followed in Hall’s case.

“We have a process. It’s a rigorous process. The process wasn’t followed properly in this instance. And we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Hesse said.

Hall, a businessman and technology expert, was forced to resign his candidacy after it was found he had referred to women as “whores” and “skanks” on Twitter and Facebook respectively.

Bokhari did not react publicly for an entire day once the controversial comments came to light, then said she was “disgusted” by them, adding: “That’s not who we are as a party.”

The provincial Liberals’ lone MLA, Dr. Jon Gerrard, defended Bokhari’s handling of the situation.

Gerrard disagreed that his leader’s initial silence showed indecisiveness. On the contrary, he said, it demonstrated that she gave the situation some thought and did not rush to judgment.

“She took enough time to be sure of what was happening. Having taken that time, she reacted well and clearly,” he said.

 larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca