Cabinet ministers under the summer spotlight

We are now in “shuffle season,” the time of year when government leaders often assess the performance of cabinet members and make changes if necessary.

With the spring legislative session just concluded and the fall/winter session still months away, a summer cabinet shuffle also gives ministers responsible for new portfolios several weeks to familiarize themselves with their respective departments before having to table legislation, navigate question period and estimates hearings, and prepare submissions for the next budget.

With Manitoba’s legislature in recess and our NDP government approaching the midpoint of its mandate, now is a logical time for Premier Wab Kinew to review the performance of each of his government’s cabinet ministers.

If such a review is occurring — and it likely is — several members of the premier’s front bench should feel particularly vulnerable, beginning with Uzoma Asagwara, who currently serves as deputy premier and minister of health, seniors and long-term care.

Kinew’s mandate letter to Asagwara instructed the minister to “reduce wait times at ERs,” and “fix rural and northern health care.” That hasn’t happened. ER wait times were down slightly in April, but they went up before that and remain among the highest in Canada. In addition, wait times for hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery have risen since the NDP formed government in 2023.

The mandate letter also calls on Asagwara to hire 400 doctors over five years, 300 nurses in Winnipeg with a corresponding commitment to rural and Northern Manitoba; 200 paramedics and 100 homecare workers. The minister is nowhere near hitting those targets, let alone replacing the doctors, nurses and other health professionals we are losing.

Asagwara often blames the previous Progressive Conservative government for the province’s worsening health-care crisis but, two years after promising to “fix health care” and failing to do so, the rookie minister owns the problem and must shoulder the blame for not solving it.

Adrien Sala, who currently serves as both minister of finance and minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, the Public Utilities Board and the Manitoba Public Service, should also be feeling the heat. His mandate letter required him to “repair the damage” to the province’s finances, “strengthen Manitoba’s credit worthiness” and “balance the budget within the first term of government.”

He is failing on all three counts. The budget deficit is going up, not down. The province’s credit rating hasn’t improved, and it is near-impossible for the provincial budget to be balanced before the next election in 2027.

The mandate letter instructed Sala to “freeze hydro rates for one year to save families and small businesses money,” but Hydro is requesting an 11 per cent rate increase over three years, beginning next year.

He has also failed to deliver a credible plan to solve the looming electricity shortage facing Hydro, and it was revealed last week that former Hydro CEO Jay Grewal was paid almost $900,000 after being fired for proposing the purchase of electricity from privately-owned wind farms as a solution, which Hydro already does.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine was caught last week making vulgar comments about a sign-language interpreter.

Finally, Bernadette Smith currently serves as minister of housing, addictions and homelessness, as well as minister responsible for mental health. Last August, her department cut off funding for a program that helps people living in shelters and encampments pay for rental accommodations, but affected agencies weren’t informed it was happening until five weeks later.

That’s bad, but Smith caused additional embarrassment for her government by proposing a safe consumption facility in her Point Douglas riding — at a location near to a school — without notice to many of those in the surrounding area.

The transition from opposition to government can be challenging for many MLAs. It takes time to discern who is, and who isn’t, cut out to serve in cabinet.

Two years after forming government, Kinew has had ample time to decide which of his ministers aren’t up to job. Asagwara, Sala, Fontaine and Smith should be at the top of his list.

Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon. deverynrossletters@gmail.com X: @deverynross