WINNIPEG — The COVID-19 pandemic will shape Manitoba politics in many ways in 2021.
There will be an ongoing attempt to control outbreaks of the novel coronavirus and to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. Decisions will need to be made about how many strict limits on business openings and public gatherings should remain to slow the spread of infection.
And there will be questions about whether Premier Brian Pallister can bounce back from low polling numbers and widespread criticism of the Progressive Conservative government’s response to a spike in cases in the late summer and fall.
“Pallister is well and truly the public face of the government’s response. He owns it,” Royce Koop, a professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said in reference to Pallister’s many news conferences on COVID-19.
“So when it hasn’t gone well, it’s been Pallister that’s kind of eaten it, entirely by himself.”
For many weeks in the fall, Manitoba led all other provinces in the per-capita rate of new infections. Wait times at testing sites were long and hospitals appeared to be in a scramble to open up more intensive care beds. Outbreaks erupted at personal care homes.
Pallister, in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, pointed out his government was among the first to bring in low limits on public gatherings. And unlike other provinces in Central Canada and the West, Manitoba instituted mandatory self-isolation for travellers arriving from some other regions.
Still, the virus spread as people continued to mingle. Restaurants, bars and other businesses were open. By the end of October, the daily number of new cases jumped to more than 300 from less than 100.
“We weren’t ready for the spike that happened, almost spontaneously, in that early couple of weeks of November”, Pallister said.
The government closed bars and restaurants except for takeout and delivery and limited public gatherings even in private homes — first in Winnipeg and then across the province. The number of new daily cases started to drop a few weeks later. But by then Manitoba was already on the way to posting the second-highest per-capita death rate from COVID-19, behind Quebec.
The current set of public health orders, which includes a ban on most social gatherings in private homes and a shutdown of non-essential stores, is to expire Jan. 8. Pallister said the decision to force businesses to close is not an easy one.
“Many times, I notice that people who tell us we should have shut down the economy sooner don’t have to face the consequences of losing their job,” he said. “It’s hard to take a person and tell them they’re going to be unemployed for the not easily foreseeable future.”
Pallister has also signalled a possible cabinet shuffle soon that would add a second health minister to his inner circle to help share the workload of the pandemic.
There is also a decision to be made about his own future.
In the last election, Pallister promised to serve out a full term until the next provincial vote in October 2023. When asked if he still intends to do that, he would only say he will stay on until the pandemic is dealt with.
Koop said that signal will prompt any Tories with leadership aspirations to start organizing.
“They would have been doing that before (quietly) … but now that he’s said this outright, it’s much more of a green light to start moving in that direction.”
A recent poll by Probe Research suggested support for the Tories has fallen behind that of the NDP for the first time in years, most notably in Winnipeg, where most legislature seats are.
NDP Leader Wab Kinew said his party is focusing on putting forward an alternative vision to the government’s.
“There is a lot of anger towards the current government. There is a lot of openness to hear what we’re saying,” Kinew said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2020
FREDERICTON – A look at David Coon, leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick:
Born: Oct. 28, 1956.
Early years: Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, he spent about three decades as an environmental advocate.
Education: A trained biologist, he graduated with a bachelor of science from McGill University in Montreal in 1978.
Family: He and his wife Janice Harvey have two daughters, Caroline and Laura.
Before politics: Worked as an environmental educator, organizer, activist and manager for 33 years, mainly with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Politics: Joined the Green Party of Canada in May 2006 and was elected leader of the New Brunswick Green Party in September 2012. Won a seat in the legislature in 2014 — a first for the province’s Greens.
Quote: “It was despicable. He’s clearly decided to take the low road in this campaign, to adopt some Trump-lite fearmongering.” — David Coon on Sept. 12, 2024, reacting to Blaine Higgs’s claim that the federal government had decided to send 4,600 asylum seekers to New Brunswick.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
FREDERICTON – A look at Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
Born: March 1, 1954.
Early years: The son of a customs officer, he grew up in Forest City, N.B., near the Canada-U.S. border.
Education: Graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977.
Family: Married his high-school sweetheart, Marcia, and settled in Saint John, N.B., where they had four daughters: Lindsey, Laura, Sarah and Rachel.
Before politics: Hired by Irving Oil a week after he graduated from university and was eventually promoted to director of distribution. Worked for 33 years at the company.
Politics: Elected to the legislature in 2010 and later served as finance minister under former Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward. Elected Tory leader in 2016 and has been premier since 2018.
Quote: “I’ve always felt parents should play the main role in raising children. No one is denying gender diversity is real. But we need to figure out how to manage it.” — Blaine Higgs in a year-end interview in 2023, explaining changes to school policies about gender identity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – The pressing issues of climate change and food security join more familiar ones like violent extremism and espionage on a new list of Canada’s intelligence priorities.
The federal government says publishing the list of priorities for the first time is an important step toward greater transparency.
The government revises the priorities every two years, based on recommendations from the national security adviser and the intelligence community.
Once the priorities are reviewed and approved by the federal cabinet, key ministers issue directives to federal agencies that produce intelligence.
Among the priorities are the security of global health, food, water and biodiversity, as well as the issues of climate change and global sustainability.
The new list also includes foreign interference and malign influence, cyberthreats, infrastructure security, Arctic sovereignty, border integrity and transnational organized crime.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
