Four rookie ministers step forward in pre-election Tory cabinet shuffle By: Carol Sanders and Danielle Da Silva Posted: 7:00 PM CST Monday, Jan. 30, 2023 Last Modified: 10:01 PM CST Monday, Jan. 30, 2023 Updates

With an election in eight months and almost one-third of her caucus not seeking re-election, Premier Heather Stefanson has promoted four backbenchers to cabinet — including two new MLAs in Winnipeg seats the Progressive Conservatives are “desperate” to retain.

On Monday, she also handed the top job of finance to her right-hand man, veteran MLA Cliff Cullen (who retires this fall), and reappointed Eileen Clarke as Indigenous relations minister. (Clarke quit the post in 2021, over controversial remarks made by then-premier Brian Pallister.)

“This is really a balance between those with experience, as well as bringing in new people to develop those skills and experience,” Stefanson told reporters after the cabinet swearing-in ceremony.

James Teitsma (Radisson) takes over as minister of consumer protection and government services, replacing Reg Helwer (who is retiring).

Obby Khan, elected MLA for Fort Whyte in a March byelection, becomes minister of sport, culture and heritage, replacing Andrew Smith, who moves to municipal relations (Clarke’s old job).

Kevin Klein (Kirkfield Park), who won a byelection in December, will serve as environment and climate minister — formerly held by Jeff Wharton, who takes over economic development, investment and trade from Cullen.

Janice Morley-Lecomte (Seine River) was appointed mental health and community wellness minister, replacing Sarah Guillemard (who moves to advanced education and training).

“It’s all part of hope and renewal and opportunity for the future and our province,” Stefanson said. “Every one of them is very capable of doing their job.”

Promoting newly-elected MLAs to cabinet is a power move, said Brandon University political science Prof. Kelly Saunders.

“I think it can be summed up by the phrase ‘Winnipeg ridings that the PCs are obviously desperate to hold on to,’” Saunders said.

With an Oct. 3 election looming, the PCs need to do what they can to shore up votes, she added.

“For any any party, having to win seats in Winnipeg is a necessity because the majority of seats in the provincial legislature are in Winnipeg — but particularly for a PC party where its traditional vote strength is outside of the city.”

The PCs narrowly won byelections last year in what are considered safe Tory seats, Saunders noted, while Radisson and Seine River have both been held by the NDP in the past.

Stefanson welcomed the four rookie ministers and their “new energy and ideas.”

However, each comes with baggage from their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and previous jobs, and had little to say Monday, other than they’re grateful for the promotion.

Teitsma said his background is information technology, and he plans to listen to front-line civil service workers to get a better understanding of how services are provided. “I hope I will be able to bring some ideas and innovation.”

Teitsma was previously taken to task by Pallister for taking a family road trip to British Columbia during code red of the pandemic in December 2020.

Morley-Lecomte said her background is in social services and the government is “very concerned and very supportive of helping individuals.”

When asked if she supported the proposed establishment of supervised drug consumption sites, the new minister said she wasn’t prepared to comment. Until November 2021, Morley-Lecomte refused to publicly disclose her vaccination status until it was reported she tried to get into a restaurant without a scannable QR code.

Klein said, as a grandparent, he is concerned about the environment. He drives an electric vehicle, but wasn’t prepared to weigh in on the federal carbon tax the PC caucus has criticized.

Klein said he needs to review the file and meet with stakeholders. During the byelection, the former Winnipeg city councillor was the target of repeated attacks by opposition MLAs over his brief employment with disgraced fashion mogul and accused sex-offender Peter Nygard.

Klein called it a “witch hunt” and vowed to eliminate parliamentary privilege, which protects politicians against defamation lawsuits for remarks made in the chamber.

Khan becomes Manitoba’s first Muslim cabinet minister. The former Winnipeg Blue Bombers player turned entrepreneur said he needed to meet with his department and stakeholders before commenting on what he hopes to accomplish as sport/culture minister.

He was also the subject of intense opposition scrutiny during the Fort Whyte byelection campaign. Khan was forced to defend his business, GoodLocal.ca, which received a $500,000 taxpayer supported grant from the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce to provide e-commerce services to local businesses in December 2020.

The Tories denied allegations of favouritism, and the chamber said there was a two-to-one return on the grant GoodLocal.ca received.

As for finance, Stefanson couldn’t risk appointing anyone but an experienced cabinet member at a perilous time, said University of Manitoba professor emeritus Paul Thomas

“The spring budget is the single most important remaining product that the Stefanson PCs will be selling to voters as part of the unofficial election campaign already underway,” he said.

“Finalization and selling of the budget requires an experienced minister with knowledge of public finances and good political instincts. Cliff Cullen fits that description,” Thomas said.

“He may not be exciting, but he is a solid choice to get the government through the budget debates relatively unscathed.”

Cullen replaces Cameron Friesen, who abruptly stepped down Jan. 27 to seek the federal Tory nomination in Portage—Lisgar.

Borderland MLA Josh Guenter, who was removed as legislative assistant to the minister of health last year for supporting the co-called “freedom convoy,” was appointed Cullen’s legislative assistant and will play “an integral role” in the pre-budget consultation process, government said.

Opposition Leader Wab Kinew said the cabinet shuffle is an example of “chaos” within the PC government.

The Fort Rouge NDP MLA said the looming exodus of Tory MLAs has created dysfunction and distracted from public priorities, including addressing the crisis in health care and developing a new budget.

“How many more shuffles are we going to have to see before you have a government that’s not just focused on rearranging the deck chairs and rather is focused on fixing health care and making your life more affordable?” Kinew said.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the cabinet shuffle was primarily an opportunity to raise the profile of PC MLAs heading into the election.

While some political observers had predicted Stefanson’s new executive council would be a “war cabinet” to lead the PCs into the campaign, Lamont was not as generous.

“It’s more of a panic cabinet.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.

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Danielle Da Silva
Reporter

Danielle Da Silva is a general assignment reporter.

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