Khan takes premier to task over support for new federal NDP leader

Premier Wab Kinew is facing criticism over his support of the NDP’s new federal leader, with the opposition Tories alleging Avi Lewis’s policy positions will hurt Manitoba.

“Across Western Canada, other NDP leaders are distancing themselves from the new leader,” Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said Tuesday at the Manitoba legislature. “They know his ideas will put jobs at risk.”

Naheed Nenshi and Carla Beck, New Democrat leaders in Alberta and Saskatchewan, respectively, issued statements after Lewis’s win at the NDP convention in Winnipeg late last month. They accused the federal party of not being focused on the interests of their provinces.

Lewis has opposed pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals and campaigned on green measures, including electric buses and renewable power generation.

Khan accused Kinew of being “not serious” about the economy.

Kinew said his NDP government is making the cost of living more affordable, citing his government’s gas tax cut in 2024.

“Of course I lifted Avi’s hand, in the same way I reach for the hand of (Prime Minister) Mark Carney, (federal Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre,” Kinew said. “You did not elect us to pick fights. You elected us to get things done.”

Kinew also praised Lewis’s father, Stephen, who led Ontario’s NDP party in the 1970s and later served as Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Kinew has called Stephen Lewis a mentor, citing him as the reason he’s a New Democrat, in a social media post last week, marking his death on March 31.

While speaking to reporters Tuesday, Khan continued to question why Kinew isn’t following the lead of other NDP leaders, such as Nenshi and Beck.

“All (these NDP politicians) are distancing themselves from Avi Lewis. Why is the premier running towards him?”

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Lewis’s beliefs — anti-pipeline, anti-energy corridor — contrast Kinew’s, Khan said, adding the premier has promoted the Port of Churchill as a potential energy transport hub.

“I think it’s really important for Manitobans to know where their premier aligns with… Avi Lewis,” he said.

During the NDP convention, Kinew said he shares values with Lewis, even though the two disagree on certain points, including their approaches to engaging Canada’s richest citizens.

Lewis is a Vancouver-based filmmaker and activist.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle 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.