Pallister announces legislative session will begin May 16

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This article was published 27/04/2016 (3461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A “sea of blue” is coming to the legislature May 16.

That day marks the first session of the legislature led by the newly elected Progressive Conservatives, Premier-designate Brian Pallister announced Wednesday.

The sitting will usher in the NDP’s first time sitting on the Opposition side in nearly 17 years. It also will mark the beginning of the first question period for Pallister as premier and his soon-to-be-announced cabinet, taking on the 14-member NDP as the official Opposition and three-member Liberal caucus.

There was palpable excitement in the air Wednesday morning as Pallister greeted his fellow 39 MLA-elects at the PCs first caucus meeting — a big change from the 19 MLAs who made made up the Tory caucus in 2011. Pallister didn’t ignore the fact 24 rookie MLAs face the daunting task of learning the ropes in a small amount of time.

“I say to everyone here who is new today and there are record numbers of you who are — the washrooms are down the hall,” Pallister said, pausing as laughter filled the room. “And if you need mentorship, boy are you blessed, you are blessed because you have 16 members returning to this caucus.”

The session will begin with the election of the speaker. Pallister will then lay out his party’s agenda for the coming year in a throne speech. Pallister couldn’t give a specific date, but promised his government’s first budget will be tabled in the coming weeks.

Of the 40 MLA elected in the Tories’ historic win April 19, about 12 will be named to cabinet. Pallister has previously announced his government would shrink former premier Greg Selinger’s 19-person cabinet by one-third. Nonetheless, Pallister said every elected MLA will play an important role in the new government.

“There is lots and lots of work to do and lots of opportunities for people to contribute. Some of them will contribute by sharing the responsibility of being in a cabinet and others will contribute in different ways. But there is important work to be done and everyone will have a job,” Pallister said.

Questions remain over how the new Pallister government will handle newly announced infrastructure dollars coming in from Ottawa or the fate of a pledge by the Selinger government to study railway relocation, answers Pallister promises will come once his government has a chance to settle in, look at the books and figure out the province’s fiscal state.

“We’re not government yet. All of us are still learning every day, including me on the process,” Pallister said. “I am getting briefings on a fairly regular basis and we will address the issues head-on as we need to when we become government.”

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Pallister pledged a “Manitoba miracle” in the party’s first two terms, one that will make Manitoba the “most improved” in the country after their first term. However, he also asked for Manitobans to give his government time to turn things around in the province.

“I know what we are inheriting is certainly a fiscal mess and it will take time and patience and it will take diligence to address it, it will not be easy,” Pallister said.

His brief opening remarks to caucus were light on specifics, but touched on the key messages of the PC campaign — his party will provide results where the Selinger government could not and will cut the waste out of government.

“We have the honour now to address some real challenges now,” he said. “We must replace ideology with innovation and we must replace waste with real results.”

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca