Stefanson defends work ethic as health minister

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This article was published 03/03/2022 (1368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson was forced to defend her commitment to clock-in, after a calendar was released showing the former health minister had next-to-no meetings on weekends through one of the worst COVID-19 pandemic surges.

Opposition house leader and St. Johns MLA Nahanni Fontaine tabled the 216-page calendar during question period Thursday at the Manitoba legislature. The document was obtained through a freedom of information request and outlines Stefanson’s meetings, calls and briefings from Jan. 1 to July 31, 2021.

Stefanson took on the role of health minister Jan. 5, 2021, and stepped down Aug. 18 to run for leader of the Progressive Conservative party. She was away from the legislative building on post-surgery medical leave May 21 to July 7, but worked remotely in the weeks leading up to her return.

During those seven months, the province was slowly emerging from a devastating COVID-19 lockdown and in the midst of the largest immunization campaign in history, before being forced to send 57 critically ill COVID-19 patients out of province in May and June during the third wave.

“We have to question what the premier did when she was minister of health and what she didn’t do,” Fontaine told reporters. “And it looks like she didn’t do anything on the weekends.

“When she was calling on Manitobans to step up and do their part in a global pandemic… she was nowhere to be found,” Fontaine said.

Stefanson’s calendar indicates her weekdays were often booked with COVID-19 response briefings, teleconferences with other health ministers and calls with chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin.

However, most engagements on weekends were redacted as a personal or constituency record of a minister.

Fontaine argued all meetings, calls and events, including those scheduled at the last minute, would be recorded in the calendar had they occurred.

“We don’t see it here, so I have a hard time believing that she worked on the weekends,” Fontaine said. “When you’re the minister of health and you’re in a global pandemic, and you have only a couple of meetings, that’s a sad commentary.”

Stefanson roundly rejected the assertion Thursday, saying she often brings her work home and calls, messages and emails answered on weekends are not entered into the calendar.

Events and meetings that would occur on weekends were also on hold due to COVID-19 and conducted on weekdays and virtually, she said.

“I have been an MLA and given back in the way of public service for more than 21 years, I didn’t do that to take weekends off or… try to get around what my job is,” the premier said in a scrum with reporters.

Stefanson said when significant public health updates were made on weekends — including a Mother’s Day announcement kindergarten to Grade 12 schools would be moved to remote learning — she was working. Stefanson’s calendar shows a single event on the Mother’s Day weekend last year, which was redacted as personal or constituency work.

“Those come up last-minute. I don’t take the time to put them in my calendar but we have those discussions and we have those meetings. I had those phone calls, absolutely,” Stefanson said.

“We’re in the pandemic, and when those things come up we drop everything and we make sure that we deal with this. This is the most important thing that we can do.”

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont expressed disbelief the Opposition would harp on the hours Stefanson kept as health minister instead of focusing on current and emerging issues, including the elimination of pandemic public health orders and the war in Ukraine.

“Everyone knows the premier was not a very good health minister, but relying on a freedom of information access request to somebody’s calendar is pretty pathetic, honestly,” Lamont said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca