NDP puts politics ahead of voters in Spruce Woods
It's been nearly four months since the people of Spruce Woods have had a voice in the Manitoba legislature — Premier Wab Kinew has still not called a byelection for the rural seat, which has been vacant since March.
The premier is waiting until the NDP has a competitive candidate and campaign team lined up first.
Let that sink in.
The premier is deliberately delaying a byelection — and denying Spruce Woods voters a representative — because it might help his political party.
That's not just undemocratic, it's a textbook example of a conflict of interest.
It's exactly why the province should act to reduce the maximum time allowed to call a byelection after a seat becomes vacant.
Under Manitoba law, a byelection must held no later than 180 days after an MLA vacates a seat. That means one has to be held in Spruce Woods by at least Sept. 24.
That's far too long. It gives too much power to the governing party to manipulate the timing for its own political benefit.
The law needs to change. The byelection window should be reduced to 90 days. That would still give a reasonable amount of time for parties to prepare and campaigns to organize — but it would prevent premiers from sitting on vacant seats to rig the chessboard in their own favour.
Because that's exactly what's happening right now.
The seat in Spruce Woods has been vacant since March 24, when Progressive Conservative MLA Grant Jackson resigned to run in the federal election.
Since Jackson's resignation, the riding has had no voice in the legislature, no MLA to meet with, and no one to ask questions on their behalf.
Kinew's not in any rush to fill that seat. Instead, he's putting the interests of his party ahead of the people of Spruce Woods.
Meanwhile, the NDP government is making a flurry of spending announcements in the riding, including $95,000 for an aeration system for Oak Lake, $500,000 for Brandon's Spruce Woods Housing Co-Op and $19.7 million to rehabilitate Oak Lake Dam.
This week, Kinew announced an increase in doctor training in the western part of the province. He's using the power of office for partisan gain. That's wrong.
It's highly unlikely Spruce Woods will flip to the NDP in the upcoming byelection, whenever it's held. It's been a Tory stronghold since the constituency was created in 2011.
The Tories won the riding in the 2023 provincial election with a plurality of more than 3,000 votes, taking 61.3 per cent of the vote. The NDP drew only 23.8 per cent support.
But that's not the point. The point is the people of Spruce Woods are being denied representation in the legislative assembly.
Kinew's tactics may be politically strategic. But it's not leadership. And it's not how a premier should approach the sacred responsibility of representative democracy.
The job of a premier is to govern for all Manitobans — not just the ones who voted for your party. Not just the constituencies they think you can flip. When a seat is empty, the premier has a duty to fill it — quickly and fairly — so those voters are not left voiceless.
There's already a baked-in advantage for the governing party in any byelection. They control the timing, the resources, and they tend to dominate the news cycle. Dragging their heels for months on end only tilts the playing field even more.
Unfortunately, governments of all stripes have done this in the past. Just because it's been done before doesn't mean it's right — and it certainly doesn't mean it should continue.
It's time to take that power out of the premier's hands and build in more accountability. A 90-day deadline would strike a much better balance between practicality and fairness.
It would mean no community goes more than three months without an MLA — a far more reasonable threshold in a modern democracy. It would also ensure byelections are called while the issues are still fresh and relevant to voters.
When a premier uses his office to delay an election so he can engineer a better political outcome for his party, that's an abuse of power. It doesn't matter if it's the NDP, the PCs or anyone else in charge — it's wrong, and voters see through it.
Gong half a year without an MLA is unacceptable.
If Kinew believes in democratic values — as he claims to — he should stop playing politics with Spruce Woods and call the byelection immediately. Enough with the delay tactics. The people of that riding deserve representation.
And going forward, Manitobans deserve a law that ensures this kind of stunt can't happen again.
Shorten the byelection window. Make it 90 days and bring some integrity back to the process.
tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca
Tom BrodbeckColumnist
Tom Brodbeck is a columnist with the Free Press and has over 30 years experience in print media. He joined the Free Press in 2019. Born and raised in Montreal, Tom graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and commerce. Read more about Tom.
Tom provides commentary and analysis on political and related issues at the municipal, provincial and federal level. His columns are built on research and coverage of local events. The Free Press's editing team reviews Tom's columns before they are posted online or published in print – part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
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