Premier’s ‘pinch-me’ moments haven’t completely vanished

Two years after he became Manitoba’s first minister, little of what Wab Kinew says or does is kept off the radar of intense public and media scrutiny.

But for the last year-and-a-half, on a roughly monthly basis, Kinew has quietly visited the Manitoba Youth Centre — the province’s main jail for young offenders — to visit with the inmates and to talk about how to find a more positive life path forward.

It’s a deeply meaningful undertaking for Kinew, who had his own run-ins with the criminal justice system as a young man. In a wide-ranging interview to mark the second anniversary of the NDP’s election win (wfp.to/podcast), Kinew said during a previous visit to the jail, a correctional officer related a story about how he had been an inmate there.

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“A few of these correctional officers were like, ‘I was in here as a youth, and having a correctional officer take the time with me helped me to get onto a positive path.’ And then, so I started to think, OK, yeah, we do have the ability to make a change here.”

The monthly visits are very casual and completely absent of any hint of photo opportunity. Kinew said now that he is the premier, he can speak with some experience about how jail can be both a punishment and an opportunity for a better life.

Even before confirming his visits to MYC, Kinew was making gestures to communicate with troubled Indigenous youth. In October 2023, at a swearing-in ceremony for the NDP government at Assiniboine Park, he took time to speak directly to the “young neechies,” an Ojibwa term for “friend” or “youth.” In other public addresses he has both encouraged and challenged the neechies to turn their backs on violence, gangs and substance abuse.

At that ceremony, Kinew talked about how he was “given a second chance in life” and that “my life became immeasurably better when I stopped making excuses and I started looking for a reason” to live a better life.

Kinew said he won’t make excuses for youth who have done “violent or anti-social stuff.” However, he said at the same time, the kids at MYC need access to “a guiding hand to put them on the path of school, to put them on the path of sports, to put them on the path of community.”

The principal opportunity, he said, is that the youth in detention at MYC are not fully, intellectually developed and have an opportunity to change their lives.

“We still have the chance to reach them,” he said. “We could still turn them into a more positive direction.”

Now that he’s 24 months into his first term as premier, Kinew conceded the hard work of moving the province in a more positive direction continues.

Manitoba toils under a deficit of more than $1 billion and stubborn, chronic social problems such as homelessness, addictions, mental health, public safety and an under-performing health-care system.

Even with all those challenges, Kinew said he is still — even two years in — experiencing some “pinch me” moments.

“I actually was having a sweat a couple weekends ago in one the community that I’m from, and the other guys my age there, who’ve known me since birth, effectively looked at me and they’re like, ‘Do you ever wonder, like, is this real? Are you really the premier of Manitoba? ’ It’s definitely kind of the pinch-me effect,” he said.

“But it’s, it’s been the best job in the world. There’s obviously challenges, there’s times where it’s a grind, but it feels pretty amazing to get to wake up every day and go to the legislature or go visit people and serve as their premier.”

The nagging sense of disbelief has likely been fed, to some extent, by the fact that Kinew has quickly earned a national profile on issues that include trade and resource development.

In July, veteran Canadian country-rockers Blue Rodeo performed at a gala concert for premiers attending Council of the Federation meeting in Huntsville, Ont. Frontman Jim Cuddy told the audience that his son wasn’t impressed that the band was playing for the provincial leaders, but he did demand that his dad get a selfie with Kinew.

Moments like that no doubt fuel the premier’s fire, but do not detract from the challenges he faces at the Legislative Building. Kinew conceded that the major metrics used to judge his government are “a mixed bag.” On some files, such as physician recruitment, there has been a lot of progress. On others, including homelessness and addictions, the early results have been more modest.

The combination of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, wildfires and a slowing economy has taken a toll. However, Kinew insisted that hope is on the horizon.

“We’re just working as a team to navigate through the different ups and downs… because at the end of the day, this is your money — the people of Manitoba, we gotta be responsible with it,” he said.

“And you deserve to have these great things like an improved health-care system, better outcomes when it comes to homelessness and some help with the cost of living. And so we’re working to deliver those things.”

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca