Legislators must clean up their act

I had the honour to serve for six years as a member of the Manitoba legislature and for 21 years as a member of Parliament from Manitoba.

I know politics can be a blood sport. Debate can be sharp. Governments must be challenged. Opposition must be forceful.

But what we are seeing now in the Manitoba legislature is not simply robust debate, it points to a breakdown in the standards that make democratic government possible.

This did not begin last week.

It began during the election period, when personal attacks with racial undertones and identity-based insinuations started to seep into political debate. Manitobans saw this daily throughout the provincial election with billboards against searching the landfill and purporting to protect parents’ rights.

In the end, these divisive narratives were defeated, but once that kind of language is tolerated in a campaign, it does not disappear when the ballots are counted.

It follows members into the chamber. It shapes the tone of question period. It gives permission for heckling, insults and personal disparagement to become part of the daily routine.

Recent coverage of the Manitoba legislature has shown how serious the problem has become.

Speaker Tom Lindsey has now moved to ban MLAs from calling one another “racist,” “bigot,” “homophobe,” “misogynist” or “transphobic” in the chamber, while warning that members who disregard the authority of the chair may be removed.

The Speaker made this statement the same day he asked the MLA for Lac du Bonnet to apologize for suggesting that the premier was inebriated in the legislature, a comment that clearly plays on stereotypes about Indigenous men.

The MLA did not apologize for this comment and was subsequently ejected from the chamber for the rest of the day’s proceedings.

This should trouble every Manitoban. The legislature is not a partisan clubhouse. It is the people’s house. It belongs to citizens who expect their representatives to argue fiercely but responsibly.

The Speaker has a duty to preserve order and decorum, and the rules of the assembly give him authority to enforce that duty.

But no Speaker can repair a political culture alone. If the parties themselves do not discipline their own members, the chamber becomes a place where the Speaker is left to police behaviour that leaders should have prevented in the first place.

This is especially important when the comments touch race, Indigenous identity, gender identity or personal history.

Manitoba is a province still working through deep questions of reconciliation, inclusion and belonging.

Words that play on stereotypes or reduce people to identity-based targets are not harmless political theatre. They corrode trust. They tell young people, Indigenous Manitobans, newcomers, women and LGBTTQ+ citizens that public life may not be a safe or respectful place for them.

Question period is supposed to hold government accountable. Manitoba’s rules allow only 40 minutes for oral questions, with tight limits. Every minute lost to heckling, personal insult, forced apology or procedural intervention is a minute not spent on health care, affordability, education, public safety, infrastructure, transportation or the future of rural and northern Manitoba.

The answer is not to make the legislature dull. Democracy needs active debate.

But this must be disciplined by the purpose to test policy, expose failure, defend communities and improve public decisions. It is not to degrade opponents or inflame resentments for partisan gain.

Party leaders should therefore publicly accept responsibility for the conduct of their caucus. The Speaker can remove a member from the chamber, but only a leader can decide whether that conduct is acceptable within the party.

Premier Wab Kinew has earned a national profile for political judgment and principle. In his response to these events in the legislature, he reminded all of us that the Human Rights code is not a buffet, a menu of options to be selected when it suits us.

Protections for one are protections for all.

These words should now serve, not simply as a response to one ugly episode, but as the foundation for renewed commitment between the government and Opposition on the standards of conduct Manitobans have a right to expect from their legislature.

Lloyd Axworthy is a former federal and provincial politician. He writes from Ottawa.