Majority supports Manitoba pandemic response inquiry: poll By: Kevin Rollason Posted: 5:00 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 28, 2023 Last Modified: 6:13 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 28, 2023 Updates

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Amid memories of a soaring death rate and ICU patients being airlifted out of province for care, a majority of Manitobans say they would support an inquiry into the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

According to a recent Free Press-CTV poll, conducted by Probe Research, 55 per cent of Manitobans are on side with the idea; 45 per cent are against it.

That support also translates into which political party the respondents are backing in the 2023 election.

The poll found two-thirds of New Democratic Party supporters — along with six in 10 people who support the Manitoba Liberal Party — are in favour of holding such an inquiry. Only one-third of those supporting the Progressive Conservatives agree.

The groups more likely to want an inquiry to take place include young adults (66 per cent), people with incomes under $50,000 per year (69 per cent), Winnipeggers (59 per cent), and women (59 per cent), the study found.

Meantime, 33 per cent of Manitobans say the PC government’s handling of the pandemic is a major factor in them not wanting to vote for the Tories, 60 per cent say it will have no bearing on their vote, and seven per cent say it factors into support for Tories.

Both the NDP and Liberals have said they will call for an inquiry, if elected Oct. 3. The governing PCs have not initiated one while in office.

John Dobbin lost both of his elderly parents to COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic, and his final memories of them are forever linked to the provincial government’s response to the novel coronavirus.

“We had a lot of people die as a result of the impact of the pandemic,” he said. “An inquiry could study if it changes how we build personal care homes, what precautions we should take in hospital.

“There is just a whole lot of information which would be helpful so the next government — whichever it is — could respond to another outbreak, whether flu, RSV… this is information which could save your life.”

As of Sept. 16, 2,509 Manitobans had died from COVID-19, a rate of 178 per 100,000 people. Quebec has the highest rate in Canada, at 211. Nationally, the number is 138 (53,793 Canadians).

“We wanted to know is if this is a voting issue or not and is it still on peoples’ minds?” Probe president Scott MacKay said.

“With 33 per cent saying the handling of the pandemic is a major factor in them not wanting to vote for the PCs, that’s not nothing… That is one in three people.”

Elections in other provinces the past few years, as well as a federal vote in 2021, had the public re-elect the governments that were in power at the peak of the pandemic, MacKay noted.

“It’s not as if everyone in office during the pandemic was thrown out,” he said. “In Manitoba, if there is a change in government, holding an inquiry would be a different matter. There would be no political risk for the government, if it is the NDP.”

Arthur Schafer, founding director of the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, said he can understand the differing feelings of the supporters of the PCs and NDP.

“Conservative supporters don’t want to see the government they support held accountable or blamed for their actions, while the people who support the NDP want to see the government held accountable,” Schafer said.

“But there will be other pandemics, and the important part of an inquiry is to learn lessons. We can find out which mistakes were made, why they were made, and now to avoid them… We need to learn from our mistakes.”

Kelly Saunders, an associate political science professor at Brandon University, said because so many died, and 57 Manitobans in hospital had to be airlifted to other provinces to free up ICU beds at one point in the pandemic, an inquiry could help future governments.

“As responsible public stewards and to save lives, you would think all of our leaders would want that inquiry to learn from our mistakes, but it has got all bogged down by politics,” she said.

Saunders said the only part of the poll she is surprised about is how low the support is for holding an inquiry.

“I would have thought the number would be higher, because health care is one of the top issues in this election and the pandemic is part of it,” she said.

“It certainly is good for the Conservatives that there isn’t a groundswell of anger… over their handling of the pandemic. We know voter memories are short and the further we get away from the pandemic the more our memories blur.”

Gail Dobbin and her husband, Mike, were both hospitalized for non-COVID-19 infections the day after Thanksgiving 2020, and contracted COVID-19 at Victoria General Hospital in Winnipeg.

They ended up spending 100 days in intensive care, seeing both of their hospital roommates die, as well as a health-care aide who helped them.

The couple, married for 57 years, was transferred to Beacon Hill Lodge long-term care home in January 2021. Mike died from the effects of the novel coronavirus in July.

In April 2022, Gail contracted COVID-19 for a second time, and died a few days later.

Dobbin said he is still dealing with the aftermath of his parents’ deaths.

“It shouldn’t be a political issue. It should be like the weather report… We don’t blame the government for the weather report. It shouldn’t be controversial.”–John Dobbin

He is unsure why the province hadn’t already called for a pandemic response inquiry.

“It isn’t a bludgeon of blame,” Dobbin said. “If the information is true, you would know what type of precautions to take.

“It shouldn’t be a political issue. It should be like the weather report… We don’t blame the government for the weather report. It shouldn’t be controversial.”

The poll of 1,000 Manitoba adults, conducted Sept. 7-18, is said to be accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

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