Former premier Doer pledges to work with Kinew’s NDP

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This article was published 12/09/2023 (768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Manitoba premier Gary Doer has thrown his support behind NDP Leader Wab Kinew, agreeing to serve as a volunteer adviser on United States trade relations, if the party forms government Oct. 3.

Doer led the provincial NDP government from 1999 to 2009, when he was appointed by prime minster Stephen Harper to be Canadian ambassador to the U.S.

He held the role until 2016, and currently serves as volunteer co-chairman for the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Canada Institute advisory board and is a member of the Canadian American Business Council advisory board.

“I’m happy to put on my skates again for the project that Wab Kinew has outlined for me, if he’s successful in three weeks from now,” Doer said during a campaign announcement Tuesday morning at The Forks with the party leader.

The 75-year-old statesman said his arrival on the provincial campaign trail followed an invitation from Kinew to consider a role in a future NDP government.

“I thought, you know, I owe it to my community if I can be helpful, constructive, valuable with the contacts I still have in Washington for Manitoba — to be part of that,” Doer said. “So I just want to be part of the solution and not to sit totally in the bleachers.”

The partnership will lend Kinew credibility and interrupt the Tory narrative that has linked the NDP leader to the “tax-and-spend” legacy of NDP premier Greg Selinger (2009-16), two veteran political observers agreed.

“They’re going after soft conservatives or people that are considering that they might want to vote NDP, or they’re frustrated with the (PCs) but they’re still a little worried about that economic legacy of the Selinger years,” Brandon University political sciences Prof. Kelly Saunders said.

“This is giving them a comfort level that’s it’s safe and it’s OK, maybe, to vote for this current NDP.”

Doer remains well-liked by Manitobans and people often associate his time in office with moderation and common sense, rather than leading a government based on ideology, Saunders said.

“That is something that the current NDP and the current leader, Wab Kinew, is really going to benefit from because it’s a way of trying to break through that narrative that the opposition parties, particularly the Conservatives, are trying to paint.”

The endorsement also reinforces Kinew’s messaging the current NDP is pragmatic and counters the “radical” label used by the Tories to describe the party’s candidates.

The PCs have repeatedly drawn comparisons between Kinew and Selinger during the election campaign and has chided the current NDP leader for being “no Gary Doer” during past legislative sessions.

“This really kind of undermines that framing that the Tories are trying to do and steals that narrative away from them,” Saunders said.

Christopher Adams, adjunct political studies professor at the University of Manitoba, said it’s rare for Doer to wade into an election campaign and his involvement could make Kinew appear to be statesman-like.

“This speaks well of Wab Kinew that he’s able to get Gary Doer to come out of his self-imposed, dignified silence and to be part of this campaign,” Adams said.

Doer, for his part, said he was impressed with Kinew’s eagerness to engage people from across the province’s health, business and labour sector and was proud to accept an offer to work alongside the candidate for Fort Rouge.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that Wab Kinew is open for advice from all Manitobans,” Doer said. “And a person that is open to advice, I think will run an open government.”

Doer said he also asked past provincial leaders for advice — namely seeking counsel from former Tory premier Duff Roblin on the expansion of the Red River Floodway.

“This is a tradition in Manitoba — we use the talent we have in the most effective way we can,” Doer said.

However, he hasn’t offered advice to the NDP campaign on its promises to date, he said.

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Asked which NDP commitments will benefit Manitoba’s trading relationship with the U.S., Doer did not answer directly and instead said his experience and connections stateside will be an asset.

He also exercised his diplomatic muscle responding to questions about tax cuts promised by the NDP and Tories, saying voters’ priorities are fixing health care and infrastructure and giving children a good education.

Kinew said he plans tap into Doer’s expertise to develop Manitoba’s relationship with the U.S. and advance economic development that will pay for investments in “health care, education and a clean, safe and healthy environment for our children.”

“I’m going to be a careful study for everything Mr. Doer has to share because I think his approach produced great dividends for Manitoba while he was the premier,” Kinew said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca