Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 17, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 A 8 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I MANITOBA T HE legend of Paul Beauregard continues to grow. Amid a controversial effort to defend himself against the NDP's allegations of conflict of interest, the embattled secretary to the Treasury Board suddenly finds himself in a most unusual place. Premier Brian Pallister confirmed, in a year-end interview with the Free Press, that Beauregard - whose job would normally keep him far away from the media spotlight or the front lines of government operations - is now a "senior leader in our COVID response." Why is that so unusual? Secretary to the Treasury Board is one of the most senior bureaucratic positions in the provincial government, overseeing one of the most important internal functions of government. The Treasury Board is the regulator on all fiscal matters and the forum for all major expenditure decisions. However, the role is not traditionally one of a decision maker, per se. The secretary oversees the operation of the Treasury Board, while key cabinet members (led by the finance minister) make final recommendations later put in front of the premier's executive council. The secretary also does not get in- volved on the front lines of government operations, nor serve as a political adviser to the premier. There is a strong case to be made that Beauregard does all those things. For years, it's been clear Pallister relies on Beauregard for advice and guidance. Tory sources confirm Be- auregard makes his presence felt on a wide range of departmental and opera- tional issues normally well outside his position's authority. Pallister's revelation that Beaure- gard has his hands on the wheel for the province's testing, contact tracing, and, now, COVID-19 vaccine distribution raises further concerns. Chief among those: the Pallister government has not performed well on the first two of those pandemic func- tions. (On vaccines, we're still in early days, and it wouldn't be fair to predict similar problems.) Beauregard's expanded role sup- ports the theory offered by Opposition critics and many in the health-care field that Manitobans have suffered because Pallister is more concerned about controlling expenses than he is about building an effective pandemic response. As well, in previous Manitoba gov- ernments of all stripes, the secretary to the Treasury Board was simply not involved on the front lines of an emer- gency response. A canvass of former NDP and Tory staffers and senior bureaucrats suggests there is virtually no precedent in recent Manitoba politi- cal history. Of course, as Beauregard has as- sumed a higher profile in the Pallister government, more details about his unusual involvement in areas normally outside the realm of the secretary to the Treasury Board are coming to light. The NDP has uncovered a trove of examples where Beauregard was tasked with negotiating contracts or deals that would normally have been done at the deputy minister level of individual departments. Beauregard, for example, signed the contract with Morneau Shepell for virtual mental health services - not the deputy minister of health. Tory sources also noted Beauregard was the point man on a new contract that privatized Manitoba forest firefighting services, including its fleet of water bombers - not the deputy minister of infrastructure. Then, of course, there is the conten- tious administrative triangle between Beauregard, Manitoba Hydro and Bell MTS. A former executive at Bell MTS, Be- auregard was to have recused himself from any government business involv- ing the telecommunications firm. In- stead, he became a key participant in a series of meetings that ultimately led to Bell MTS being awarded an extension of a valuable data network contract, seemingly without any competition. Documents produced by the NDP show clearly Beauregard was directing Hydro - which has a subsidiary in the data network business - not to bid on the contract awarded to Bell MTS. When pressed on this issue at the year-end interview, Pallister said cabinet had directed Beauregard to extend the Bell MTS contract. The pre- mier would not say, however, why he thought Beauregard was the right man for a job normally filled by a deputy minister. Pallister has created a mechanism within government that has short- circuited many of the established paths for fiscal decision-making, and taken significant authority away from deputy ministers and from other cabinet ministers. Even worse, Beauregard's astonish- ing decision to file a workplace harass- ment complaint against the NDP for allegations made in the legislature ap- pears to be a clear effort to stop anyone from digging any deeper into his pro- foundly expanded role in government. Pallister has already cut himself off from his cabinet ministers when it comes to major decisions. In lean- ing heavily on Beauregard, he is also undermining a significant chunk of senior levels of bureaucracy, whose role is to inform elected officials on all decisions. Two men making important deci- sions on a wide range of files, outside of normal administrative channels and beyond the scrutiny of senior manda- rins and elected officials. What could possibly go wrong? dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca Pallister, trusted adviser running the show on Broadway DAN LETT OPINION R EFLECTING on his leadership during Manitoba's worst health and economic crisis, Premier Brian Pallister said he has just one regret. He waited too long to get tough with scofflaws who violate group size and mask restrictions. "I think if there's one thing we should've done differently, it was emphasize that we're serious about mask-wearing, that we're serious about the group size," the premier said in a year-end interview with the Free Press this week. He answered questions about a range of topics such as Costa Rica, his emotional videos going viral, re- tirement, and the legacy of his gov- ernment's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. "We would've had better enforce- ment earlier, three or four weeks earlier, to send that clear message: don't gather, don't go mask-free in a group. We didn't send it early enough. That's my regret." Pallister said Manitoba didn't have many COVID-19 cases early in the pandemic, or have to ride out a sig- nificant first wave, and those two factors may not have helped, either. "We didn't get a chance to learn in the early stages like other prov- inces," he said. "We had almost eight months of being almost COVID-free." The premier said reminders to Mani- tobans to limit their contacts fell on deaf ears, as did warnings about the second wave as fall approached. "If we had brought in severe re- strictions to shut down businesses in August, people would've said 'no way.' There would have been a riot because there was no evidence that it was needed," Pallister said. "There were lots of non-believers, lots of folks who said 'Why would you bring in restrictions, we don't even have COVID here'... In September, even, (which averaged 25 new cases a day) to bring in restrictions on things like going out to restaurants? The public reaction would've been incred- ibly opposed to these restrictions and we would've had people not abiding by them." After Thanksgiving, the quick spread of the virus in Manitoba "to some degree, caught our health ex- perts by surprise," he said. The province stepped up its re- sponse within a week of Manitoba reporting its first day of triple-digit cases, Pallister said. (On Oct. 13, 124 new cases were reported. Tougher new public health orders that were to take effect on Oct. 19 in the Win- nipeg region were relaxed at the last minute, allowing hotel beverage rooms to remain open. Daily cases have more than doubled since mid- October.) "Then, it spread like a snowball into vulnerable people's living places... that's what hurts." It is painful, he said, and he won't apologize for cry- ing about it at news conferences. "I've taken criticism from some, saying I'm weepy and over-emo- tional and things like that. OK. I am who I am. I'm not going to put on a play act for you." He's taken some praise, too, from U.S. cable news celebrities who shared a clip of the premier tearfully taking the blame for being a Grinch who imposed public health orders that would ruin Christmas. "I think it was important for people to know somebody is being real about what the situation is, and I'm doing my best to be real about it," Pallister said. "I don't mind being the one who gives the bad news and I'm giving the bad news a lot lately about busi- nesses having to shut down, people not being able to travel, not being able to go out for dinner or not being able to go to church. Somebody has to say that. We need to keep reminding each other it's worth it because we're sav- ing lives." The premier is unapologetic for controversial remarks he made about the federal government distribut- ing the vaccine to provinces on a per capita basis, while holding back the supply earmarked for First Nations. Manitoba has the highest per capita percentage of Indigenous people in Canada and the premier said he feared the province would get short- changed. First Nations leaders and opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew called Pallister's remarks divisive and racist. "It's not racist," Pallister said, not- ing he's used to people "attacking" him. "I'm trying to get vaccines for Manitobans who need them because it's a very, very dangerous situation in some of our communities." The premier credits his statements for Ottawa's decision to fast-track vac- cine doses for First Nations people on reserve: "Thank you very much." "If we were firefighters called to a fire, we wouldn't spray water in 10 buildings, we'd go where the fire is and we'd address it. The issue in Manitoba is there are high-risk com- munities - some of them are Indig- enous and some are in the inner city - so focusing on preventative and treatment issues like vaccines and focusing on where there are areas of concern is important," he said. His legacy of being the premier who balanced Manitoba's books and lowered taxes was upended by the pandemic. The coronavirus has made him rethink his retirement, life goals and priorities - as it has for many people, he said. "But I have no intention of leav- ing while the work is here. I feel not just obligated, I feel honoured to have the opportunity to try to get us through this mess." And he'll be proud of his legacy. "It's pretty cool to be able to take what was approaching a billion-dol- lar deficit, with the rainy day fund hardly left, and to keep your front- line investments focused while you're actually finding ways to spend less on lower-priority issues. (It's) a pretty good accomplishment for our cabinet and caucus and I think they deserve to be proud of that," he said. The legislature is adjourned until March, but it's no time for a getaway to Costa Rica, the premier said. He has no plans to visit his home there before the house reconvenes on March 3. "I'm on duty," he said. Since the pandemic began, he's taken two trips to Ottawa "to lobby on various is- sues." On one of those trips, the pre- mier's actions went viral on social media when he was photographed not wearing a mask in an airport in vio- lation of public health orders. (These days, the premier has a yellow post-it note on the door of his office with a reminder: "MASK.") "I've been here since February and I ain't going anywhere." A premier can dream, though. "Unbeknownst to many people, I am actually a hologram," Pallister mused. "I have been in Costa Rica through the entire COVID pandem- ic." carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca CAROL SANDERS He won't apologize for his tears, but Pallister does have one regret Premier says he feels obligated, honoured to lead province through pandemic MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister talks to the Free Press about everything from COVID-19 to his Costa Rica vacations in a year-end interview in his office at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Tuesday. A_08_Dec-17-20_FP_01.indd A8 2020-12-16 10:06 PM ;