Premier continues to create off-the-cuff controversy

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This article was published 09/06/2017 (3067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It has become fashionable for many politicians in North America to use social-media channels to bypass traditional media. The theory is that by speaking directly to citizens, one can avoid the filters inherent in professional news organizations.

However, communicating directly with citizens is also risky because in addition to eluding the filters applied by news organizations, it avoids internal political filters as well. And that can result in a propensity for self-inflicted wounds, as Premier Brian Pallister knows only too well.

Mr. Pallister has a history of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, only to see those comments broadcast verbatim and unvarnished. That tradition continued recently with a video posted by the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba on its social-media channels.

The video featured Mr. Pallister rallying the troops at the Point Douglas byelection headquarters of Tory candidate Jodi Moskal, encouraging volunteers to continue making calls and knocking on doors in an effort to ensure a robust turnout. However, as is his style, Mr. Pallister allowed his impromptu speech to wander off topic and into some perilous political territory.

In a rambling six-minute speech, Mr. Pallister told the volunteers that his government is focused on creating good jobs for Manitobans, something that would help address the poverty that is prevalent in Point Douglas. Without warning, however, he shifted his focus to the minimum wage and how the NDP is so invested in forcing the government to increase it.

The speech wandered further off course, with Mr. Pallister attacking the “left-of-centre” governments of Alberta and Ontario, both of which recently announced policies to dramatically increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour (Manitoba’s rate is set to increase to $11.15, with future increases tied to the province’s economic performance). Mr. Pallister dismissed the work of Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne as dangerous and destructive.

It is not unprecedented for premiers to cross swords, but they almost always try to maintain a modicum of respect when asked to comment on events or policies in other provinces — particularly when those events or policies don’t have a direct effect on events or policies in their home provinces.

Mr. Pallister ignored these traditions in favour of an ill-considered rant that not only tarnishes Manitoba’s reputation on the national stage, but also does little to help Ms. Moskal in her bid to win a riding that is, as one of the poorest in the province, a keen audience for the debate over minimum wage.

Mr. Pallister is certainly entitled to voice his aversion to significant increases in the minimum wage. However, as premier, he needs to start thinking about what unprovoked attacks on his counterparts in other provinces are doing to his national profile.

Manitoba’s premier already has a spotty record on national issues, having found himself on the wrong side of other national debates, including opposition to the federal health care transfer accord. Mr. Pallister tried, unsuccessfully, to muster a coalition of aggrieved provinces to force the federal government back to the table. In the end, all the other holdout provinces signed their own deals with Ottawa, leaving Manitoba alone and looking rather silly.

Mr. Pallister should demonstrate more restraint when making unscripted remarks, or perhaps cut back on the amount of time he spends speaking off the cuff. His current approach is not doing him, or Manitoba, any favours.