Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 09, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 A3 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2014 NEWS LOCAL T HE NDP is banking on a 30- second political attack ad to air next week during the Winter Olympics to reverse its almost two- year descent in the polls. The ad - the NDP call it a " contrast ad" - was unveiled Saturday during the party's annual general meeting at Canad Inns Polo Park. Premier Greg Selinger's chief of staff Liam Martin said the ad is factual and tested in front of focus groups before getting the green light. " It puts on record what Brian Pallister stands for," Martin said. " The thinking behind the ad is that we want to get our message out now to define Brian Pallister and what he stands for and do it while people are watching TV." The ad will cost an average of $ 6,000 to air each time. The NDP used the convention to solicit donations from delegates toward that. " It's a significant ad buy," Martin said. " We think it will help change the conversation as well as cut through some of the other clutter that we hear out there." The release of the ad comes as the party attempts to reverse its fortunes as they gear up for the next general election in the spring of 2016. That includes stopping its spiral in popular support since it took office for a fourth consecutive term in October 2011. That tailspin is tied to the New Democrats extending the number of goods and services to be taxed under the provincial sales tax in 2012 and then raising the PST by one percentage point to eight per cent in last year's budget. The expulsion from caucus last week of NDP MLA Christine Melnick, who now sits as an independent, has also tarnished Selinger's leadership, although the Melnick affair took a back seat during the weekend convention that wraps up today. The ad depicts Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister as a cutter of basic essential services, and says should his Tories triumph in the next election, Manitobans can expect to return to an era of fewer frontline services, particularly in health care and education. The campaign includes the website PallisterCuts. ca and a mailbox brochure drop. Pallister has already said the ad says more about the desperation of the NDP than of him. The ad, also posted on YouTube, features a theme Martin said still resonates among Manitobans - that Pallister sat at the " big kids table" of former Tory premier Gary Filmon and helped bring in severe austerity measures to cut government spending. " That's the interesting thing about Conservatives- they don't change a lot," Martin said. " And the feelings Manitobans have about the Conservatives and their plan haven't changed much either." Earlier in the day, federal NDP and Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair spoke to the 450 delegates in a speech that touched on everything from getting rid of the Senate to the next federal election in the fall of 2015. " What is it with this undemocratic, unelected, unaccountable, under indictment Senate? Let's get rid of it once and for all," he said. " Canadians are looking for leadership," he added. " They are tired of being told that they have no choice but to alternate between the red and blue doors of Liberal and Conservative corruption." Mulcair told reporters the Selinger government should not believe its low polling numbers. He pointed to his own low polling in the last federal election and the election results that saw the NDP win 59 of the 75 seats in Quebec. " I know Greg Selinger has being doing the tough things," he said. " Greg and his team have my full support. Manitoba under NDP stewardship is a progressive place. I'm watching the Conservatives in Ottawa. I know what the Conservative agenda is and I'm going to do everything I can to keep the Manitoba government in place... because I know it's a government that takes care of people first." bruce. owen@ freepress. mb. ca RAISING social assistance housing rates to 75 per cent of the median market rate, so families can live in decent homes, is " the right goal", Jobs and Economy Minister Theresa Oswald said Saturday. " I have heard loudly and I have heard clearly from experts and advocates that want us to ensure that stable housing is fundamental to helping people in poverty improve their situations," Oswald told delegates at the NDP's annual convention. " We agree that 75 per cent as a target is the right goal. We agree that 75 per cent is absolutely the right thing to do, but we also must acknowledge that there are some very real challenges to meeting that goal." Oswald said those challenges include dealing with other funding commitments in the March 6 budget - a budget in which the NDP must make some headway in reducing the deficit at a time of lower- than- expected transfer payments from Ottawa. " We don't want to raise shelter benefits in a way that creates a poverty trap," she added. Oswald, besides being one of the key government ministers on the Selinger government's infrastructure spending plan, is also responsible for employment and income assistance. She said other than increasing shelter benefits, the government must also address the plight of the working poor and increase child- care availability and job- training programs aimed at getting people off welfare. That will need to be done over several budgets, she said. " There are lots of right things to do that people are asking us to do in this budget, but you can bet that I'm going to be in there swinging to make sure that this is one of the right things to do, that indeed we commit to do in the coming budgets ahead," she said in an interview. Increasing the rate was recommended by commissioner Ted Hughes in his recently released report from the inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair. Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister has promised to raise the welfare housing rate, now at $ 285 per month, to 75 per cent of median market rents within the first year of forming a government. Oswald said Pallister's plan will not help everyone living in poverty. " For their vision, it's still tens of millions of dollars to do what they want to do, which we say is inadequate and inefficient and if I may say, insincere," she said. - Bruce Owen By Bruce Owen ' There are lots of right things to do,' says Oswald NDP out to define Pallister ' Contrast ad' gets screening at convention Owen Edmonds growls while pretending to be a bear as he plays with Jessie Reid ( right) and his sister, Alice Edmonds, in a cage made of sticks at Assiniboine Park on Saturday morning. The structures were made by children and child- care workers as part of an initiative to get kids playing outside and creating things with nature. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Hear me roar! RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair told the party faithful at the NDP convention Saturday morning not to worry about low poll numbers. A_ 03_ Feb- 09- 14_ FP_ 01. indd A3 2/ 8/ 14 9: 22: 22 PM ;