Looks like Pallister could use a vacation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2017 (3078 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For much of the past year, journalists, political commentators and opposition MLAs have castigated Premier Brian Pallister for the amount of time he spends at his vacation home in Costa Rica.

There have been concerns about the duration and frequency of his visits and whether the premier is able to maintain meaningful contact with his office while in Central America. Pallister has responded in part by dialing back the number of trips he takes.

However, in recent weeks it has been apparent this premier desperately needs some time off. In fact, for the sake of his government and his own state of mind, it might be best for all involved if he took a time out. And he might as well do that somewhere he will be guaranteed peace and quiet, such as Costa Rica.

In the last month or so, whenever he is under attack by the NDP, Pallister has developed a tendency to blow his top. Longtime friends and associates liken the sudden flashes of anger to the way he competed during his storied career as a fastball pitcher: if a hitter did something to make him angry, he threw the next pitch high and inside.

These days, the premier’s anger is being sparked by opposition taunts regarding Costa Rica. But other issues have been effective at getting the premier’s goat, such as outrage over his government’s decision to cut funding to the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre.

When it was learned last week the women’s centre was going to lose $120,000 acquired through the Neighbourhoods Alive program, the sparks began to fly. The NDP did not hold back, accusing the premier of being anti-woman, anti-indigenous and all-around anti-Point Douglas.

In response, Pallister unleashed a torrent of anti-NDP rhetoric in what appeared to be a deliberate effort to divert attention away from the issue at hand. In several instances, most involving exchanges with New Democrat MLA Nahanni Fontaine, Pallister completely lost his cool. It was the same situation a couple of weeks back, when Pallister got into it with New Democrat MLA Andrew Swan over his apparent lack of contact with the office while he was in Costa Rica.

Militant Tories may easily dismiss the opposition antics and likely love Pallister’s willingness to mix it up, but it’s important to remember a lack of composure is never a positive attribute for a politician. The reality is the time you spend insulting your political enemies is time you’re not actually explaining your side of the argument.

The women’s centre funding is an excellent case in point. It has proven extremely difficult to get a straight answer from the Tory government on exactly what happened.

In debate, neither the premier nor his ministers have provided an adequate explanation other than accusing the NDP of deliberately misrepresenting the situation.

We do know the women’s centre was told earlier this year its Neighbourhoods Alive funding had run out and was not being renewed. Moreover, the centre was told it could not reapply. That is unusual in and of itself given many organizations do reapply and expect to get the money.

The province announced last fall it was taking a “pause” on new applications for funding under this program. That does not explain why existing recipients — such as the women’s centre — weren’t allowed to reapply. It all raises questions about whether Neighbourhoods Alive is being curtailed, wound down or whether this one organization was being singled out for some political reason.

Further complicating matters is an announcement made in March that the province was providing $7.5 million in new funding for community resources such as the women’s centre. A provincial spokeswoman said the women’s centre will receive nearly $240,000 over three years from this new stream of funding, along with support from other unaffected streams of funding.

If the women’s centre found out in February it wouldn’t be receiving Neighbourhoods Alive money, why did it take so long for the issue to be raised by the NDP?

It could be that this is just an attempt to disrupt the byelection campaign and tilt the playing field to the NDP, which is desperate to retain the seat.

On the other hand, if there is nothing nefarious in this decision, then why has it been so difficult for the Tory government to explain its rationale for not allowing the women’s centre to reapply and confirm the future of Neighbourhoods Alive? Pallister’s refusal — or inability — to effectively explain this decision, and his insistence instead of blowing his lid, created an opportunity for the opposition to make political hay. And hay they have made.

The premier should not be surprised about any of the NDP’s tactics because, before forming government, he was as good as any opposition leader at summoning mock outrage and crocodile tears to score political points.

What he may not know quite as well is that the antidote to opposition chicanery is not bombast and petulance. Only clear and unambiguous facts, delivered in a calm and reasoned tone, can defuse opposition efforts to manufacture a controversy.

Pallister’s current tribulations remind us not everybody is cut out to be a political leader. The hours are long, and the stress is relentless. Political leaders must toil in a forum where the insipid, silly and obtuse often thrive. In other words, it’s not a job for someone with a lack of self-control.

The most successful political leaders almost universally demonstrate a capacity for maintaining their cool when all others around them are losing theirs.

After 13 months on the job, Pallister needs to be reminded keeping his cool is an essential part of the job. Perhaps a bit of time poolside in Costa Rica will help him keep his cool on a more consistent basis.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca