Blaikie seizes opportunity to serve closer to home

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This article was published 29/02/2024 (557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The opportunity to be home in Winnipeg working for Manitoba’s NDP premier was too good for MP Daniel Blaikie to pass up.

The member of Parliament for Elmwood-Transcona is resigning his MP seat to move back home and become Premier Wab Kinew’s adviser on intergovernmental issues.

The federal NDP announced the move on Wednesday. Blaikie will stay on as MP until the end of March and will join Kinew’s team in April. A federal byelection date to fill Blaikie’s seat has yet to be announced.

The move back to Winnipeg will allow him to spend more time with his family, including his two sons, 11 and 7, Blaikie said in a phone interview Thursday. He said he’s excited about the Kinew’s provincial NDP government and about the opportunities for collaboration with the federal government.

The previous Progressive Conservative provincial government, he said, let disputes get in the way in its relations with the feds, “which often left money on the table.”

During the pandemic, he was able to be at home more often, as restrictions relieved him of the demanding travel schedule MPs usually endure. He said he and his family “got a real sense of what we were missing out on as a family, having me away so much.” It opened the door to a window of opportunity Blaikie said he doesn’t want to miss — he wants to be around while his kids are young.

Asked if he’s noticed a stronger desire among his colleagues to be at home at this point in the pandemic, Blaikie said there’s an understanding the public has little sympathy for politicians’ travel complaints.

“It can be challenging for people in public life to talk about the impact (constant travel) has had.”

He was first elected in 2015, right around the time his first child was born. His late father, Bill Blaikie, also held the riding for the NDP. The elder Blaikie served in Parliament, initially in another riding, from 1979 to 2008. Daniel recaptured the seat from the Conservatives in 2015, and won again in 2019 and 2021.

Before announcing his intention to step down as an MP, Blaikie had been working on advancing electoral reform and proportional representation.

Bringing Blaikie in as one of Kinew’s advisers will add some historical context to the NDP’s policies going forward, predicts Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at University of Manitoba.

“Like his dad before him, Daniel Blaikie not only has strong ideological roots, he also has a strong sense of pragmatics,” Thomas said, describing him as a hardworking and well-respected MP who “is not fiercely partisan” to the point of making disagreements personal.

Thomas said he has “tremendous respect” for Blaikie and his family.

“The general public doesn’t appreciate the sacrifices involved with serving in any political body, but particularly the House of Commons,” he added.

It’s much more common for sitting MPs to announce they won’t run for re-election, rather than vacating their seat mid-term, but according to Christopher Adams, an adjunct political studies professor at U of M, Blaikie’s resignation is unlikely to leave the federal NDP in the lurch in a riding that still strongly supports the party.

The next federal election likely won’t be held till October 2025, and the confidence agreement between the federal Liberals and NDP expires next year.

“This is the time to jump,” Adams said. “The premier can’t wait until 2025.”

It’s a personal decision, he explained, and it’s not unusual for politicians to step aside because of family demands, particularly considering the demands of working in Parliament.

“I’m not surprised that he’s opted to be an adviser,” he said.

Blaikie and his family are well respected, added Adams, who also lives in the riding.

“I think people understand his loyalties,” he said. “I don’t think anybody sees him as abandoning the riding.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca