Doctors endorse Kinew, admonish Tories

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This article was published 27/09/2023 (711 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Doctors’ endorsements, debt relief and domestic violence were among the topics highlighted Wednesday as Manitoba’s major political parties pushed toward the final weekend before the Oct. 3 election.

The NDP kicked off the latest slate of promises and announcements by hosting a press event near Niakwa Park in south Winnipeg, where a panel of Manitoba doctors endorsed party leader Wab Kinew while also issuing scathing rebukes of the Progressive Conservative government’s management of health care.

“I am frankly appalled and embarrassed by the state of the health-care system in this province. I’ve seen, under this current government, a dramatic deterioration in the last seven years,” said Dr. Eric Jacobsohn, medical director of research at Health Sciences Centre.

“I see on a daily basis what happens when there’s lack of access to primary care and to specialist care. It causes undue suffering and, in some cases, premature death.”

Jacobsohn was joined by several high-profile Manitoba doctors, including former CancerCare Manitoba president Dr. Dhali Dhaliwal and former Winnipeg Regional Health Authority president Dr. Brian Postl, in voicing support for the NDP.

Dr. Lesley Garber and Dr. Kendiss Olafson also spoke in support of the NDP, while Dr. Jillian Horton posted a video online.

The physicians’ endorsement came on the same day Kinew was slated to debate Premier Heather Stefanson and Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont at a forum hosted by Doctors Manitoba.

Kinew, flanked by the physicians, outlined a plan to hire 400 doctors, 300 nurses, 200 paramedics and 100 home-care workers within five years in government. He also reiterated promises that, if elected, an NDP government will increase health-care capacity, re-open three Winnipeg emergency rooms and restore birthing services to rural and northern communities — all of which are contingent on meeting the hiring targets.

The NDP will utilize a variety of education, recruitment and retention programs to help meet its goal, Kinew said, adding that a cornerstone of the plan involves consultations with health-care professionals.

“There’s been too much emphasis on building up the upper echelons of the health-care bureaucracy at the expense of paying attention to the needs and voices on the front lines,” Kinew said.

Speaking from Bonnycastle Park in downtown Winnipeg, Liberal Party Leader Dougald Lamont pledged $2 million in annual support for the Credit Counselling Society, a charitable group that provides advice and helps people restructure their debt.

If elected, the party would also establish a Debt Compromise Board, allowing Manitoba businesses and farmers to meet with their lenders to find ways to restructure debts. Reducing debt loads would bolster the economy and improve health-care outcomes for those struggling to afford medications and nutritious foods, Lamont said.

“We do believe it’s essential to bring these tools forward so Manitobans can renegotiate their debts downward in a way that’s affordable for the future,” he said. “We are going to have to deal with this debt somehow. We can do it in a way that is chaotic and destructive, or we can do it in a way that’s organized.”

The Liberal leader has repeatedly criticized his political opponents for making fiscally irresponsible promises ahead of the election.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Conservatives pledged $10 million in support to victims and survivors of domestic violence.

Half of the one-time capital investment would be dedicated to expanding domestic violence and sexual assault counseling services, while the rest would go to women’s shelters throughout the province.

“It is imperative we provide unwavering support to survivors as they embark on their paths to recovery. We must ensure that those who find themselves trapped and without services have a safe haven to turn to,” Tory MLA Kevin Klein said.

Klein announced the funding from his Kirkfield Park constituency office, where about a dozen people gathered outside in protest of the provincial government’s refusal to search nearby landfills for the remains of murdered Indigenous women.

He described his party as the only one committed to supporting victims and survivors, as protestors’ chants of “Bring them home” and “Shame” filtered through the office door.

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The Tories previously committed $4.1 million toward women’s centres and domestic violence supports in the 2023 provincial budget.

Winnipeg Police Service officer and Fort Rouge PC candidate Réjeanne Caron spoke in support of the investments.

“As an investigator, I worked in our sex crimes unit,” she said. “I also worked on Manitoba missing and murdered Indigenous women and girl cases. I saw first-hand the horrors that some women and girls have gone through in Manitoba.

“As an Indigenous woman — I’m Métis — I’m proud to run for a party that’s willing to defend, not defund, the police.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.