Hounded by his past, Kinew will never fully shine

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This article was published 05/10/2017 (2981 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After a somewhat unexpected false start, Wab Kinew finally got his day in the Manitoba legislature.

On Thursday, the new leader of the official Opposition NDP rose for the first time in question period to face off directly with Premier Brian Pallister.

Leading up to and following his election as leader last month, Kinew has been dogged by allegations that he committed a domestic assault 14 years ago. The allegations have drawn huge attention, in large part because they have come directly from Tara Hart, his former partner and alleged victim, and her family. Kinew has denied assaulting Hart, but the nature of the allegations make it impossible for anyone to set them aside.

Rising from his seat, Kinew buttoned the jacked of his light-blue business suit and began the work of the leader of the official Opposition. It became quickly evident that, setting aside the baggage from his troubled past, Kinew represents a massive upgrade for the NDP.

Largely a result of his years spent as a musician and television reporter, Kinew is calm and confident when speaking to a large audience. He did read off prepared notes, but his delivery was flawless, his tone measured and respectful. His questions were an effective mix of pointed inquiry and hyperbole, just the kind of cocktail that works well in the crucible that is question period.

In an exchange about health care, Kinew deftly pointed out how Pallister answers every question about health care with an answer about budgets and funding. “There’s been plenty of talk about financial performance, so we know he’s thinking about the money,” Kinew said. “But is he thinking enough about the impact on people?”

In political terms, that one sentence struck deep at the heart of Pallister’s greatest Achilles heel, namely that Manitobans are still concerned that he and his government are obsessed with the deficit with little regard for the human costs of austerity.

More importantly, that is the kind of political fencing that the NDP could not muster over the past 18 months as the party suffered through the interim leadership of MLA Flor Marcelino.

Marcelino courageously held down the job despite the fact she was, by her own admission, not a confident public speaker or effective debater. “I’m better working behind the scenes,” she would say. She also noted that a 2002 surgery to remove a benign brain tumour had left her with limited short-term memory. For that reason alone, the NDP ought to award her a medal of bravery for her months of service.

However, while Kinew raised the overall level of play in question period, it became quickly apparent that he is not destined to shake the baggage from his earlier, troubled life anytime soon.

There was some intrigue about how Pallister — a notoriously scrappy man who rarely passes up an opportunity for a political jab — would respond when he first confronted Kinew in the legislature. An elegant public speaker, Pallister did not wait long to remind Kinew that when leaders face off in question period, it’s a full-contact game.

Pallister started by upholding a solemn parliamentary tradition of congratulating Kinew on becoming leader. At moments like this, politicians are expected to acknowledge that everyone who is elected to the legislature deserves a modicum of respect. However, Pallister being Pallister, there was a small jab thrown in with that warm welcome.

Casually, Pallister wished Kinew the best of luck over the coming days “as he works to rebuild himself and his party.”

The line was delivered without any verbal flourish or finger-wagging. It was a subtle but effective reminder that Pallister knows Kinew is vulnerable, and he’s not going to let him off the hook.

Therein lies the problem for Kinew as he forges ahead as leader. Until there is some sort of resolution to the allegations against him — and it’s tough to imagine what that would look like — he will live on a razor’s edge where, at any moment, he will be trapped by his ugly past.

Take this week, for instance. Kinew was supposed to make his debut as official Opposition leader Wednesday, but was denied when Independent MLA Steven Fletcher consumed all of the time set aside for question period with a filibuster.

Fletcher has yet to fully explain his rationale for derailing proceedings, but it seems he is expressing his dissatisfaction about being kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus last summer. His behaviour this week has no doubt made the Tories feel good about that decision.

Still, had Kinew risen a day earlier for his first question as leader, the situation could have been more complicated because it was a national day of remembrance for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG).

There is little doubt the allegations of domestic assault do not play well among advocates for MMIWG. How could they? Domestic violence is often a tragic precursor to the murder of an Indigenous woman. The cloud of suspicion that hangs over Kinew has eliminated him as an advocate on that issue.

Throughout most of Fletcher’s filibuster, Kinew was forced to look up into the public gallery to see about two dozen mothers and other family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Given all that has transpired in his public life in the last month, that would have been a very tough audience for his inaugural performance as leader, particularly if he tried to acknowledge the family of the victims, as good leaders should do in the chamber.

But for now, and for the foreseeable future, that is Kinew’s predicament. Rather than a harbinger of better times ahead, Kinew’s performance will likely only serve as a painful reminder of what could have been.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca