Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 20, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba KILDONAN PARK GOLF COURSE R E D R I V E R C H I E F P E G U I S T R A I L M A I N S T P E R I M E T E R H W Y R I D G E C R E S T A V E S C O T I A S T H E N D E R S O N H W Y H E N D E R S O N H W Y River Ridge II 2701 Scotia St. Winnipeg, MB A s s i s t e d L i v i n g E n h a n c e d O n l y 2 S u i t e s w i t h P r i v a t e B a l c o n i e s R e m a i n i n g Enhanced Assisted Living provides care and support 24/7 allowing residents to Age In Place safely and comfortably throughout the years! Call Chassity to Arrange Your Personal Tour 204.272.0369 PROUDLY CANADIAN www.allseniorscare.com Worry-Free Living At Its Finest THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025 A4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I TOP NEWS Poilievre still holds best hand but bad beat possible I N poker, we’d call this a “tell.” Last weekend, the federal Conser- vative party threw a pre-election Hail Mary to stall the upward mo- mentum the federal Liberal party has demonstrated since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decided to step down. Using National Flag of Canada Day as a backdrop, Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre unveiled a fairly detailed “Canada First” policy that is, for all intents and purposes, the party’s plat- form for the next election, which could come as soon as the end of next month. Canada First is, at first examination, a fairly impressive array of pledges, some new and some from announce- ments made over the last year. It’s also a tell. If you want to know how worried the Tories are about their sliding support, you don’t have to look any further than the decision to release its campaign platform before the campaign actually begins. In fairness, unveiling the platform now is not necessarily a bad move for the Tories given that we are defi- nitely going to have an election in a little more than a month. Still, it does confirm they are worried about where the pre-election polling numbers are going. So what does Canada First entail? In no particular order: a pledge to apply tariffs on a dollar-for-dollar ba- sis to combat U.S. tariffs; promote new oil and gas pipelines; fast-track federal environmental approval of all critical mineral projects in northern Ontario; establish a permanent military base in Iqaluit and strengthen defences along U.S. border; remove inter-provincial trade barriers and introduce national standards for professional licensing; impose life-sentences on fentanyl “kingpins”; remove the GST on new homes under $1 million; create a tax reform task force. There isn’t much entirely new in Canada First. Planks such as inter-pro- vincial trade barriers, tariffs, remov- ing GST on new homes, strengthening border security and support for new critical mineral and pipeline projects are regular placeholders in the medley of Poilievre’s greatest policy hits. Others — particularly the war on fentanyl suppliers and the northern military base — were unveiled just pri- or to the Canada First rally in Ottawa. There are also some planks that sug- gest, despite growing disaffection in this country with what’s happening in the United States right now, Poilievre is going to continue parroting some Trumpian talking points. One Canada First plank promises to “end cancel culture and stop the war on our history.” Poilievre will do this by erecting a monument to Canadians who fought in Afghanistan and restor- ing screened images of Terry Fox to passports. Taken together, Canada First is entirely consistent with the tack Poilievre was on prior to the trade war with the U.S. and Justin Trudeau’s resignation. Which is to say, it’s not likely to serve as a catalyst for restor- ing Tory support, which has taken a nosedive in recent weeks. All that leaves Poilievre face to face with a much different electoral chal- lenge than he faced just a few weeks ago. In most elections, veteran political strategists know that when the so- called winds of change begin to blow through the electorate, there is little an incumbent governing party can do to stay in power. This provides ample opportunities for an opposition party to seize power simply on the weakness of the governing party’s brand. The winds of change also repre- sent the equivalent of a free pass for opposition parties looking to take down a government. “We may not be better but, hey, we’re not the other guys” is tried and true messaging in an election that is yours to lose. The only thing that can derail this time-honoured phenomenon is if the governing party transitions to a new leader who embraces change as their brand. This is the “political unicorn” theory of leadership: a new face that is seen as competent and compelling but sufficiently divorced from the old lead- er and party brand that they can offer themselves up as an agent of change. A unicorn like this doesn’t appear very often. The Manitoba Progressive Conserva- tives could not save themselves in the 2023 vote by dumping uber-unpopular Brian Pallister and embracing Heather Stefanson. Kim Campbell could not save the Progressive Conservatives in 1993 after she took over from a belea- guered Brian Mulroney. In short, there are many more ex- amples of new leaders failing to save their parties than there are of new leaders breathing life into a party on its deathbed. Where does that leave Mark Carney, the acknowledged front-runner in the leadership race? He cannot be con- sidered a bona fide unicorn, but polls suggest he might have unicorn-adja- cent potential. National polls released this week show the Conservative lead has dwin- dled from the high to mid-20s to single digits. Seat projections have also shift- ed, with many now showing the Tories getting precariously close to 172 seats, the number needed for a majority. For the Liberals to fully derail the Conservative party’s march to victory, they would still need to win back an enormous amount of support. And they’d have to do that while managing the transition to a new leader. A complete Liberal recovery, which would imply a historic Conservative collapse, remains the long-shot scenar- io in the upcoming election. It’s just not quite as long a shot as it used to be. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca DAN LETT OPINION Rural MLAs get 17 per cent boost for temporary housing R URAL and northern MLAs with temporary residences near the legislature are getting a double- digit boost in allowances. The increases come after a review by Michael Werier, Manitoba’s independ- ent commissioner for MLA pay, allow- ances and retirement benefits. It’s the first time in eight years there’s been an above-the-rate-of-infla- tion increase for temporary residence expenses and living allowances, the re- port, released Wednesday, said. “Allowance levels should be fair and reasonable both to the member and to the public,” the report stated. “A mem- ber should not be required to spend their own funds for fair and reasonable expenses directly related to their duties in serving their constituents.” Werier increased the maximum tem- porary residence allowance by 17 per cent to $1,650 a month from $1,410, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024. As of last month, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Winnipeg was $1,550 — a four per cent increase over last year, his report said. It noted 20 rural and northern Mani- toba MLAs receive the allowance and that it’s not “unreasonable” for them to seek temporary residences closer to the legislature, where rents may be higher than average. Werier did question why seven MLAs were renting two-bedroom apartments when others were renting a one-bed- room unit, but said the regulations don’t stipulate allowable apartment sizes. Living allowances, meanwhile, were hiked by $100 to $1,056 from $956. “Given extraordinary rising costs for food and other household items,” an in- crease in the allowance over and above the cost-of-living hike set out by regula- tion was warranted, the report said. All sitting members were invited to make presentations prior to the deci- sion. Werier heard from members who said allowance increases from 2017 to date have not kept up with the rising costs. Veteran political observer Paul Thomas said Werier’s role is to “take the sensitive issues of pay and benefits for MLAs out of politics” by basing de- cisions on objective factual evidence. “This is never completely possible,” the University of Manitoba political studies professor emeritus noted. “In a period of rising costs, many members of the public will resent MLAs gaining increases in their daily expense allowances and rental sub- sidies. When MLAs are paid well com- pared to the average Manitoban, the argument is made that they should not be entitled to the additional ‘perk’ of protection against inflation.” A review last year by Werier in- creased Manitoba MLA office rent al- lowances by more than $1,000 a month (to $2,750 from $1,679) after some members priced out of the market were forced to meet with constituents in mall food courts and community centres. In addition, the $106,603 basic annual salary for an MLA will increase 2.5 per cent on April 1 and 2.75 per cent effect- ive April 1, 2026, which is in line with civil service increases. The increases are part of a review the commissioner is mandated to do after an election — except when there’s less than 42 months between elections, as was the case with the Sept. 10, 2019 vote that occurred 40 months after the April 19, 2016 election. The last review was conducted in 2017, and it showed Manitoba MLA salaries were in the middle of the pack among provinces. Werier’s role as an independent com- missioner who sets MLA pay and allow- ances was created by legislation passed in 2007. At the time, Manitoba’s premier was the lowest-paid in Canada. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca CAROL SANDERS JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES Werier is tasked with taking politics out of decisions on MLAs’ pay and benefits. Norway alerted Brandon police to child porn suspect BRANDON — The Brandon foster dad charged with child pornography-related offences was ar- rested after Norwegian authorities seized a de- vice and discovered evidence connected to Can- ada. Brandon Police Service deputy chief Greg He- bert confirmed that Norwegian authorities were investigating a suspect when they found evidence leading to Manitoba. They alerted Canadian au- thorities, which led to a Brandon police investiga- tion that began on Feb. 3. The 37-year-old accused appeared in court the next day. He is charged with assault, sexual assault, touching a child under the age of 16 for a sexual purpose and a list of child pornography charges that include making, distributing, accessing and possessing the material. When he was arrested, six children were in his home, which he shared with a common-law part- ner, police said. The accused is suspected of creating child por- nography material with kids in his care, through a daycare in the home and through foster parent- ing. Police said Wednesday more charges are like- ly as police further review evidence and conduct interviews. At the time of his arrest, Brandon police wouldn’t say whether there were additional sus- pects. The link to Norway confirms one extra suspect, but in international cases such as this, many people are often involved, an expert told the Brandon Sun. Tamara De Luca, the operations manager for Cybertip, under the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said offenders often act as part of a community that shares child porn. While she was not able to comment on the Brandon case, she said offenders are usually part of a network that trades material, and so in- vestigations into one person often lead to other suspects. “That is typically what we see,” said De Luca, who works at the centre, which forwards about 27,000 tips to police each year. “Generally, they’re connected in some sense, there really is … I don’t want to use the word ‘ad- vocacy,’ but a strong advocacy that they have for one another in these communities. Oftentimes to even be ‘initiated’ into these communities, you have to share a certain level of content to be able to receive anything back.” De Luca said offenders typically connect on apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. She said platforms are chosen for their encryption and be- cause offenders know children use the apps. CBC has reported that Norwegian police said this month the accused in that country had ex- changed content with the Brandon man. The po- lice service said the two used apps to share photos and videos. The Norwegian man was found to be in contact with others, not only the man in Bran- don. “He had communication with several people,” said Norwegian police prosecutor Jeanette Svend- sen. “Same kind of communication about abusive material, about abuse of children.” The Norwegian man pleaded guilty to possess- ing abusive material and being complicit in the rape of a child younger than 14, CBC reported this week. De Luca said offenders commonly meet on social media pages. She said there are many ex- amples of forums, and offenders find others with similar interests based on demographics such as age and gender. The offenders are then able to communicate with each other and form groups where they can exchange material, De Luca said. “In the comment section, you can go in and find somebody trying to sell (child sexual abuse ma- terial) and just go right from there,” she said. “Fa- cebook pages that seem to be dedicated to almost sexualized child modelling images, or, you know, fan pages for child actors or famous gymnasts, things like that.” — Brandon Sun CONNOR MCDOWELL MISERICORDIA HOSPITAL Make your donation now at misericordiafoundation.com or by calling 204.788.8458 You can help Misericordia deliver the future of care today! ;