Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 3, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMA4 C M Y K PAGE A4 THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022NEWS I MANITOBA I T could be a colossal and yetinconsequential flop or a seismicmoment inManitoba politics, a prelude for wholesale change in government. As the legislature reconvenes for a critical late-winter session, all eyes turn to the March 22 byelection in Fort Whyte, a Winnipeg district seat vacant since October following the retirement of former premier Brian Pallister. Byelections typically draw extreme- ly low voter turnout and media atten- tion, doing little to change the political landscape. However, this one provides voters with some tantalizing opportu- nities for electoral mischief. Despite riding high in opinion polls and nominating a high-profile candi- date — former Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Winnipeg Folk Festival executive director Trudy Schroed- er — few observers believes the New Democrats have a chance to win Fort Whyte. By not winning, however, the NDP faces what is, in essence, a lose-lose scenario. If the Tories and star candi- date Ibrahim (Obby) Khan retain the electoral district held by the Progressive Conservatives since its inception in 1999, it will provide a much-needed morale boost to a party demoralized by plummeting support in opinion polls and internal concern about the performance of Premier Heather Stefanson. The NDP lead in those polls, partic- ularly in Winnipeg, remains strong but anything that breathes life into a largely moribund party would be a source of concern. On the other hand, a Liberal win by candidate Willard Reaves puts wind in the sails (official status) of a party that typically battles the NDP for support from the centre and left-centre of Manitoba’s electorate. If New Democrats had to pull for one scenario over the other, it appears they prefer a Tory hold over a Liberal gain. “Anything that suggests (the Liberals) are a viable alternative is bad for us,” said one NDP strategist. The Liberals clearly understand this is their best chance to change the minds of voters, who have largely seen the Grits as the perennial third-place party. It is important to note in recent fed- eral elections, Fort Whyte voters fall within the confines of Winnipeg South and Winnipeg South Centre — both have shown determined support for the Liberals. Once thought by Tories to be the urban version of a “yellow dog riding” — a rural electoral district that votes faithfully for the PC party, come hell or high water — Fort Whyte has evolved into a more diverse and dynamic region within Winnipeg. It will not hurt Reaves he is already getting visible support from federal Liberal MPs such as Terry Duguid (Winnipeg South). “I am engaged and active as a resident of Fort Whyte,” Duguid said. “I will be strongly sup- porting Willard Reaves.” Given those underlying conditions, Liberal strategists have become increasingly confident that, given the right circumstances and timing, they could challenge in this riding. Both of those elements seem to be aligning for the Grits. First and foremost, the PC party is in deep, debilitating trouble. Stefanson largely avoided any kind of post-convention bump when she was selected as leader last fall. With an abundance of advance plan- ning and a manipulation of the timing and rules of the race, Stefanson had sought a stately coronation. Instead, she triumphed in a contest fraught with allegations of conflict of interest and dirty tricks. Any hope of a hon- eymoon period evaporated as soon as challenger Shelly Glover went to court to challenge the result. Since taking over, Stefanson has been unable to convince Manitobans she is better than Pallister at pandem- ic management. Both are viewed by many as indifferent to science and vulnerable to fringe political demands from within the party’s base of sup- port. Stefanson has so been so under- whelming there are concerns about whether the voters who elected Pallis- ter in Fort Whyte for nearly a decade will turn out in force for Khan, a former Winnipeg Blue Bombers player turned charismatic restaurateur. It does not help the Tories that Pal- lister left behind no discernible riding structure or resources. Despite making forceful demands on his caucus to tend to their riding gardens and raise money, Pallister did neither. He infamously purchased a home on Wellington Crescent (outside his district), routinely avoided cultural or community events, and spent most weekends at his second home east of Portage la Prairie. As well, party sources confirmed Pallister regularly left his constitu- ency office under-resourced or even unattended altogether. An unpopular government and lead- er. A hungry opposition. And a lack of attention on constituency relations. The voters of Fort Whyte, should they be interested, have the rare op- portunity to engage in some high-level electoral mischief. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca FortWhyte byelection alivewith possibilities for political change DAN LETT OPINION T HE spring session of the Manitobalegislature officially began Wed-nesday with the introduction of two new bills — but the spectre of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was front and centre. Members of the legislative assembly were united against a common enemy and in support of democracy, but divid- ed on how best to show it. “Manitoba stands with the people of Ukraine,” Premier Heather Stefanson told the house. She condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “heinous attack” on Ukraine and said it’s not the first time Ukrainians have suffered under an “evil” dictatorship. The premier noted themonument on the grounds of the leg- islature to the victims of theHolodomor, the man-made famine and genocide in Ukraine engineered by Russian dictator Joseph Stalin in the 1930s. Manitobans are united with Ukraini- ans to “make sure that never happens again,” she said. Thegovernmenthaspledged$150,000 in humanitarian aid for Ukraine and is working to expedite more than 100 immigration applicants to Manitoba’s provincial nominee program. It also pledged to work with the federal gov- ernment to welcome refugees who’ve fled Ukraine. That’s not enough, critics say. “We know we have to do more,” said NDP Leader Wab Kinew, who called on members “to unite against a common enemy — that enemy is Vladimir Pu- tin.” Manitoba should be bringing in thou- sands of Ukrainian immigrants and refugees and providing them with sup- port and settlement services, he told the house. The province should waive the $500 application fee for nominee program applicants from Ukraine, a country where many Manitobans have roots, Kinew said. There were 18 Ukrainian applicant files in the nominee program system recently, and all were prioritized, com- pleted and sent to Immigration, Refu- gees and Citizenship Canada for per- manent residency approval, according to the press secretary for Immigration Minister Jon Reyes. Those were in addition to 36 Ukrainian applicant files previ- ously sent, said Brant Batters, who could not provide specific dates late Wednesday. Both Kinew and Liberal Leader Dou- gald Lamont called for the premier to match Manitobans’ donations toward humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and to make sure the province is supporting economic sanctions and not harbouring any business dealings of Russian enti- ties supporting Putin. “We know there’s a need to take steps to lift the veil of secrecy which helps to protect business interests of some of the oligarchs who enable Vladimir Putin,” Kinew told reporters in a scrum outside the legislative chamber. “Manitoba’s business registry is a black box,” Lamont said, adding there are a few Russian oligarchs with assets inManitoba.He called on the provincial government to create a transparent, searchable public registry that could identify them. “It’s the onlywaywe’ll be able to iden- tify assets and freeze them to put more pressure on Russia and help Ukraine,” Lamont said. However, Manitoba already has “some of the most complete legislation in the country,” the premier’s press sec- retary, Olivia Billson, said Tuesday. The 2019 Business Registration, Su- pervision and Ownership Transparen- cy Act requires companies registered in Manitoba to track people who have 25 per cent or more interest in voting shares, including those outside the province and offshore. “We can also confirm that the gov- ernment of Manitoba’s borrowing and investment activities in no way involve Russia,” she said. Two government bills were intro- duced Wednesday. Bill 11 (Elections Amendment Act) authorizes the use of vote-counting ma- chines and removes the requirement a candidate’s residential address be pub- lished. Bill 10 contains two legislative amendments: one would allow pharma- cists to continue to conduct COVID-19 tests, the other allows for virtual meet- ings of co-op and condo owners, corpo- rate directors and shareholders to con- tinue post-pandemic. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Legislature returns with appeals for Ukraine support CAROL SANDERS Opposition presses for action on immigrants, oligarchs Premier Heather Stefanson (top) told MLAs onWednesday that Manitoba stands with Ukraine, but opposition leaders Wab Kinew (above) and Dougald Lamont (right) say pledged humanitarian aid and work to expedite immigration applications doesn’t go far enough. PHOTOS BY MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS THE Manitoba government wants to update the voting process. On Wednesday, the govern- ment introduced amendments to the Elections Act to “modernize our electoral system to improve its fairness and accessibility to voters,” said Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen. Under proposed changes, the chief electoral officer would have the power to authorize the use of vote-counting machines. Manual counting would continue in some rural and remote areas, as determined by Elections Manitoba. The government promises there would be safeguards to protect the secrecy of ballots such as machine pre-testing and restrictions on electronic access to data. Voters would be served by the first available voting officer instead of going to an assigned table, which would reduce lineups. The advance voting process would be streamlined and special printers could be allowed at polling stations to print on-demand ballots for non-residents voting in advance outside their electoral division. “These changes have either been recommended by the chief electoral officer in annual reports or discussed with political parties in legislative committees,” said Goertzen. “All political parties have an interest in making our election system stronger as these amend- ments do.” Manitobamoves to modernize voting A_04_Mar-03-22_FP_01.indd 4 2022-03-02 10:13 PM ;