Premier denies bending election blackout rules

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This article was published 14/03/2022 (1344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Progressive Conservative government has been accused of “picking and choosing” which byelection communication blackout rules to follow.

On Monday, the premier’s office invited media to an event she attended. Meanwhile, the health minister refused to discuss plans to address Manitoba’s surgical backlog, saying it would amount to a breach.

Eight days before the March 22 byelection in Fort Whyte, Premier Heather Stefanson’s press secretary notified the media the premier would be attending a news conference, titled: “WestJet to announce summer schedule and Manitoba investments in recovery.”

According to the provincial document, “Guidelines on Communications During an Election,” Manitoba “ministers cannot use government resources (financial, staff or otherwise) to initiate contact with the media, including interviews and news releases.”

The 10-page government document explains the section of the Election Financing Act that restricts government advertising to ensure government resources are not used to support an election campaign.

“When ministers attend meetings or events, government resources should not be used to advertise or publish the minister’s speaking event, to invite people to that event or to publish the contents of their speech after it is made.”

When asked about it Monday, in a scrum with reporters at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, the premier said she was not in breach of the byelection blackout.

“This does not violate any elections laws,” said Stefanson, whose speech touched on WestJet being a critical partner to Manitoba’s economy and that air connectivity is key to its long-term recovery. She said the Tory government is committed to working with its economic development partners and the business community.

While advertising the premier’s attendance at the good-news event was not considered a breach of the byelection blackout rules by the PC government, talking about the progress made by the surgical and diagnostic task force to address an estimated backlog of 161,000 surgeries and procedures is considered a no-no.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon has said a detailed update on the progress of the task force expected March 4 won’t be available until after the March 22 byelection.

“They’re just picking and choosing how to follow the (Election Financing) Act and that’s not right,” said NDP legislative and public affairs critic Malaya Marcelino. She said the government doesn’t want to talk about delays in health care but does want to talk about the economy reopening and flights being restored.

“Because it’s a good-news story for the government, it’s good to go?” said the Notre Dame MLA. “Well, it’s not. Manitobans still want to know about updates about the surgical task force. This is information that is very pertinent to public health.”

Marcelino said Monday she will be seeking Manitoba’s elections commissioner’s opinion on the matter.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, too, said the premier should not have been at the WestJet news conference.

“The PCs are using government funds and staff to promote the premier in the middle of a campaign. That’s not allowed. Even for the premier’s press secretary to send out an e-mail to media promoting her involvement ignores the blackout,” said the member for St. Boniface.

“The voters of Fort Whyte deserve a free and fair byelection, and it is truly unfortunate that the Stefanson PCs think the rules don’t apply to them.”

University of Manitoba political studies professor emeritus Paul Thomas said the use of political and communications staff to promote Monday’s event is “on balance, problematic.”

It could be argued it was simply to alert the media to the availability of the premier after she’d been accused of not making herself available to questions, said Thomas.

“The more likely explanation is that the WestJet event is an opportunity for favourable publicity in terms of renewed economic activity, which has been her central message.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca