The fall sitting of the Manitoba legislature will look a little different when it begins Wednesday afternoon — with one newly elected member joining the government benches and one freshly-ousted member sitting by himself — as the Kinew government pushes through an omnibus budget bill full of non-budgetary items.
Tuxedo MLA Carla Compton, who won a June byelection for the NDP, takes the seat previously held by two former PC premiers, Heather Stefanson and Gary Filmon. Meanwhile, Fort Garry MLA Mark Wasyliw, who was ousted from the NDP caucus last month, will sit as an independent.
The Progressive Conservatives spent the eve of the fall legislative sitting shuffling its shadow cabinet. Fort Whyte MLA Obby Khan, who is a candidate for the party’s leadership next spring, is being replaced as finance critic by Midland MLA Lauren Stone, who also assumes responsibility of critic for Manitoba Hydro.
Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Wayne Ewasko announces changes to the party’s critic roles heading into the fall sitting at the Manitoba Legislative Building.
“These are two portfolios that are critical to ensuring that Manitoba’s economy is strong,” Stone told reporters at a news conference Tuesday at the legislature, alongside nearly a dozen Tory caucus members. “The NDP made $3 billion worth of election spending promises last year without offering a credible plan to pay for them.”
“The NDP has driven up the deficit at an alarming rate — $1.9 billion — (with) over $2 billion in debt servicing costs,” she said. “They’re raising taxes and they’re ignoring Manitobans that need a long-term plan to grow the economy and bring down the cost of living.”
Morden-Winkler MLA Carrie Hiebert adds families to her critic’s portfolio, which includes housing, addictions and homelessness, as well as mental health.
Selkirk MLA Richard Perchotte adds culture and heritage to his critic’s responsibilities for advanced education and training.
“The NDP’s failure to manage finances, protect vulnerable youth and build Manitoba communities demands accountability,” interim PC leader Wayne Ewasko said Tuesday.
Education, justice, health care and a thriving economy that delivers strong social services for Manitoba families will continue to be the Tories’ top priorities as the session resumes, Ewasko said.
The majority NDP government has unfinished business to address before the session concludes this fall.
Bill 37 — the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act (BITSA) 2024 — was introduced May 6 and includes a good chunk of Kinew’s legislative agenda.
It includes doubling the amount of expenses political candidates can be reimbursed, giving cabinet the authority to raise the gas tax, changing the environmental act and tweaking labour laws to favour unions, while creating a seniors advocate. The opposition calls those legislative changes “undemocratic” because a budget bill is not required to be heard at a committee with stakeholder input before becoming legislation.
“The Kinew government is not ready to be governing,” Ewasko told reporters. He accused house leader Nahanni Fontaine of missing deadlines for introducing government bills then stuffing them into the Act.
“It took it upon themselves to take nine pieces of legislation and drop them into schedules in the BITSA bill,” the member for Lac du Bonnet said. “It’s undemocratic because it takes the voices of Manitobans away.”
Fontaine was not made available for an interview Tuesday.
Tyndall Park MLA and the lone Liberal in the house, Cindy Lamoureux, said she’s looking forward to the session and the NDP government having “had some time to get their feet wet.”
“As far as I’m concerned, they don’t have the excuse of any more of ‘we just got started,’” Lamoureux said. “I’m looking forward to seeing something more tangible.”
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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