Pallister takes shots at Kinew at PC AGM

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This article was published 04/11/2017 (2952 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a large majority in the legislature and his main political opponent hampered by controversy, Premier Brian Pallister urged Progressive Conservative party faithful in Manitoba to recruit more members and “stay humble.”

However, he couldn’t resist taking a personal shot at NDP leader Wab Kinew that drew laughter — although no applause — from a crowd of 300 at the PC party’s AGM on Saturday.

“I’m supposed to be away all the time,” Pallister said, referring to criticism about the amount of time he spends at his vacation home in Costa Rica.

“Esther (his wife) and I have spent less days in Costa Rica this year than (NDP Leader) Wab Kinew has been in custody,” he joked, referring to his opponent’s run-ins with the law years ago.

At another point in his remarks — staged as a “fireside chat,” with broadcaster Leah Hextall lobbing softball questions his way — the premier made another reference to Kinew’s troubled past.

He referred to a “photo-op” featuring the NDP leader and members of the taxi industry on the issue of safety. “Read his book and you’ll understand why that’s ironic,” Pallister said, referring to Kinew’s memoir, The Reason You Walk, in which he admits to once assaulting a taxi driver.

Asked about the comments afterward, the premier said: “Well, that’s politics. (The NDP has) been taking hard shots at me since I came to this job (as party leader) in (20)12 and before, when I was running for leader. So, life goes on.”

Although he once said he intended to spend between six and eight weeks a year in Costa Rica, Pallister has had to scale back his travel plans because of the demands of his job.

He last visited in January, he said. He plans to gather his family there again this Christmas.

In a wide-ranging forum, Pallister took swipes at “union bosses,” repeated concerns about the dangers of marijuana legalization and heaped criticism on the federal government over its proposed tax reforms.

He also urged party members not to become complacent, and to work hard to ensure the government is re-elected.

“This is not a silver spoon party. This is a hard-working party that earns its way respectfully on principle,” he said.

Earlier in the day, PC members heard presentations from cabinet ministers on the government’s climate-change plan and its hospital reforms.

Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires, fresh from a meeting of federal-provincial environment ministers in Vancouver, defended Manitoba’s carbon tax proposal, while lashing out at Ottawa.

Manitoba has proposed a flat $25-a-tonne carbon tax, while Ottawa has insisted provinces adopt an escalating tax regime that would see the levy reach $50 within five years.

Squires said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not ruled out raising the price of carbon above $50 in the future.

“He’s going as high as Canadians will allow him to go, quite frankly,” she said of the PM.

“The focus has shifted from protecting the environment to raising taxes,” she added to the applause of the party faithful.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said reducing the number of Winnipeg hospital emergency rooms to three from six will lead to improved care.

He likened the benefits of ER rationalization to the success of centralizing cardiac care at St. Boniface General Hospital, which recently was cited as one of the top units in Canada.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca