Has MLA Mark Wasyliw become the Manitoba legislature’s “chaos man?”
That term, typically used by commentators in top-flight international soccer, describes players who not only cause chaos, but crave it as well, with little regard for the consequences.
It’s not hard to imagine other scenarios where chaos men and women make their presence felt. And in a political context, you can find no better example than Wasyliw.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Former NDP, now independent, MLA (Fort Garry), Mark Wasyliw asks a question of his former boss, Premier Wab Kinew, during question period as the 1st session of the 43rd Legislature reconvenes Wednesday afternoon.
Throughout this week, the first of the legislature’s fall sitting, important and pressing government business has been largely eclipsed by Wasyliw, who has used the chamber to accuse Premier Wab Kinew of toxic and abusive leadership behaviour.
On Thursday, those accusations became more serious. Wasyliw — who was expelled from the NDP caucus last month — alleged that following a 2019 press conference, Kinew grabbed his arm and screamed at him during a disagreement over whether an NDP government would reopen the emergency department at a south Winnipeg hospital.
There is justifiable concern about the allegations that Wasyliw has unleashed on Kinew and the NDP government. Any time someone reports verbal or physical abuse, there should be a fair hearing to determine what went on.
However, in this instance, the very public sparring between Wasyliw and Kinew is looking less like a credible report of abusive behaviour, and more like the hyperbole exchanged by combatants in a bitter divorce proceeding.
Put more directly, it is hard to accept what Wasyliw is saying at face value, because he launched the torrent of accusations only after his expulsion.
In fact, the chronology of Wasyliw’s evolution from loyal caucus member to chaos man is quite illuminating.
It began last October when Wasyliw, who had been a solid critic for the NDP while in opposition, was left out of Kinew’s first cabinet. Although it would not have been a surprise to see Wasyliw with a portfolio, his exclusion was hardly the stuff of headline news.
When a party wins 34 seats and the right to form government, choosing a cabinet is much like a political version of musical chairs. The music starts playing after an election and stops when the premier announces his ministerial choices. And obviously, not everyone gets a chair at the table.
Despite that reality of party politics, Wasyliw responded with a temper tantrum.
First, he refused to shake Kinew’s hand at the ceremony to swear in government MLAs. He also threatened to spend more time working as a criminal defence attorney and spend less time fulfilling his duties as an MLA.
In retrospect, if Wasyliw needed to be expelled from caucus, this was probably the time to do it. Publicly declaring that you are turning the job of MLA into a part-time position is absolutely grounds for firing.
It should be noted, Wasyliw was pretty soundly criticized by political commentators and members of the legal community for his comments, which accomplished the rare feat of disparaging two different professions.
Fast-forward to Wasyliw’s expulsion from caucus last month. Incredibly, Kinew said Wasyliw was being removed because a partner in his law firm had represented convicted sexual predator Peter Nygard.
At face value, ruining an MLA’s political career because he has a business relationship with a lawyer who represented a serial rapist is implausible at best, and blatantly dishonest at worst. And even though Kinew has continued to maintain that Wasyliw’s two-degrees of separation from Nygard was the cause of the expulsion, it’s not that hard to tell something else was going on.
Kinew’s lack of transparency on the events that led up to the expulsion does not take away from the fact that there may have been good reason to get rid of Wasyliw, particularly if he followed through with his threat to spend more time on legal work and less on being a legislator.
Remember that the NDP spent a fair bit of political capital defending Wasyliw in 2019 when it was learned that, after being elected, he was still working as a lawyer and running provocative ads promoting his talents at helping citizens avoid conviction on impaired-driving charges. “Drinking and Driving is NOT against the law,” his woeful ads proclaimed.
Although there is nothing immoral about representing someone charged with a DUI, the image of a sitting MLA telling the public that drinking alcohol and driving was legal, and taking time away from his constituency duties to defend clients, was very much unethical.
Wasyliw has not described the amount of work he is doing now as a lawyer, but the Manitoba law courts registry shows that since he was elected, he’s been involved with nearly two dozen cases. And on the day after he was expelled from caucus, he was in a courtroom defending a Winnipeg police officer charged with impaired driving.
Kinew and his party brought a lot of this grief upon themselves by being disingenuous about the real reasons behind Wasyliw’s expulsion.
But Wasyliw’s decision to emit a litany of incendiary allegations against the premier, but only after he was expelled from caucus, ultimately reveals the truth of this matter.
The chaos man cometh.
dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com
Dan Lett
Columnist
Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986. Read more about Dan.
Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our 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.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.