Reality hits home for the Kinew government

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/09/2024 (345 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s fair to say the honeymoon is over. Anytime a new party takes control of government, there’s a period of grace provided where the public tends to believe that all things are possible. But, like any good romance, eventually reality sets in and things become a bit clearer.

Manitoba may have reached that moment with the NDP government of Wab Kinew.

It hasn’t been an auspicious fall for the Kinew government, and it doesn’t look like things are going to get any easier anytime soon. Take heart, earnest strategists. This is normal and you have three more years to get it right before the next election. But, the last three weeks have definitely been rocky.

Here’s a recap. First, the Manitoba government made good on its announcement that it would offer free birth control in this province. But there’s a problem in the fine print. It’s not actually true.

In fact, it’s just free prescription birth control. In fact, condoms and the morning after pill (which the NDP said they would provide free when they were lobbying for votes) are not included. No clear reason for not including the morning after pill has been provided, even when pressed by women’s health organizations.

Some have suggested that the Kinew government has steered clear of making the morning after pill free because of its association with abortion pills which raise the ire of many pro-life voters. Many of those pro-life voters can be found in rural Manitoba. Rural Manitoba is an area that the NDP wants to keep happy in advance of the next election. Something to think about.

But that omission fell off the radar quickly because very shortly, the Manitoba government found itself having to explain why it suddenly cut funding to some of its most vulnerable.

The Canada-Manitoba Housing Benefit was put on a temporary hold in early August due to high demand. That means hundreds of homeless people who were looking for that benefit to help provide them with the money necessary to rent an apartment have been left disappointed. Many will continue to stay in homeless shelters. Many are facing eviction.

Tackling homelessness was a major plank in the NDP’s election campaign and this is a significant letdown for many organizations hopeful that this government was on the right path.

As is the norm in modern politics, this announcement was not provided via a media announcement led by the minister. No, it was left up to department officials with nary a word from the minister in charge or the affable and photogenic Kinew.

Kinew even went on record as saying he was not made aware of the cut until he heard about it on the radio and then complained that he would rather the media pay attention to all the good his government is doing. That doesn’t foster great confidence in his issues management.

Further, according to MLA Mark Wasyliw, Kinew was so upset about the criticism following the failure of this housing program, the premier made the decision to take his anger out on him and Wasyliw was dumped from caucus. He is now sitting as an independent.

From a strategic perspective, this is classic bait and switch. Create another crisis in the media so no one’s paying attention to the real issue here. Take a political outsider who has already been made a pariah within your political party, and push him under the bus to avoid any hard questions about the bigger picture.

Even better? Use a highly suspicious dog whistle — the spectre of a sexual predator — as the reason for dumping said politician. That’s probably the most egregious in all of the shenanigans going on at the Manitoba legislature so far. How gullible do NDP insiders think people are?

Here’s an idea. Dump Wasyliw for continuing to work two jobs. Spin it that Wasyliw hasn’t made representation of his constituency his number one priority. Most people would see that as an acceptable response. But something as specious as his former partner is representing Peter Nygard? Please.

The Kinew government has some very real problems on the horizon. Some 25,000 healthcare workers are set to strike. This was another one of the NDP’s much ballyhooed campaign promises. The premier said he was going to “fix healthcare” and it seems a strike has the potential to derail that promise.

There are also some fiscal storm clouds on the horizon. Kinew has already stated that austerity is coming, although he hasn’t been clear what programs are going to be cut. Certainly not a gas tax holiday. Afterall, rural Manitobans and commuters in south Winnipeg need to be kept happy.

Just like any romance, it looks like the days of roses on a Friday and luxury dinners out on Saturday are coming to an end. Let’s just hope that doesn’t mean cuts to initiatives that address housing, addictions and poverty reduction.

Perhaps now Manitobans should start evaluating this government with fewer stars in their eyes and a bigger dose of reality.

Shannon Sampert is a lecturer at RRC Polytech. She was the politics and perspectives editor at the Free Press from 2014-17.

shannon@mediadiva.ca