Pallister Wins Second Term; How PC Numbers Have Changed Since 2011

With the return of Premier Brian Pallister to the helm of the province, the progressive left in its various forms fell far short of their hopes on election night in Manitoba, and a realignment is inevitable. 

Since 2011, the Progressive Conservatives have only increased its share of the popular vote by 3.36% to 47.07%, but has distributed votes to almost double the seats held, from 19 to 36. 
The NDP, which ruled the roost that year with 46.16% and 37 seats, have fallen to 31.38 percent of voter support, their seats cut by more than half to 18. Trying to halve that 15 point gap is the next step up the ladder. 

Former Premier Gary Filmon tells about the one that got away

As long as Wab Kinew can only attract 23% or so of voters outside Winnipeg, the NDP will never regain the seat of power. And by 2024, the term "FILMON" will be long put to rest, once and for all, as a dogwhistle to attack conservatives. 

While the Winnipeg Free Press framed the Kinew speech as "Despite election defeat, NDP does victory lap", the victory was over the other left wing opposition parties. The Tories were barely dented by Kinew, with none of the Winnipeg seats grabbed from the PC's qualifying as a total surprise. 

It was no secret backbencher Blair Yakimoski was in a tough fight in Transcona to retain, and in swing seat St. Vital, Jamie Moses was a persisent presence in the riding and decisively avenged his 2016 loss to Colleen Mayer. 

In my view, redistribution made St. James a tough but expected lost seat for the PC's.  If anything, the NDP failure to win the newly created McPhillips constituency in the north end of the city, where the Seven Oaks Hospital is located, was more surprising, as PC MLA Shannon Martin parachuted in and eeked out a return to the Legislature.

The prospects for the other two opposition parties dimmed greatly despite earlier polling which demonstrated the very definition of "parking their vote". After dislodging the volatile Rana Bokhari as Liberal leader, Dougald Lamont didn't move the dial beyond a .08% increase in electoral support in a disappointing result. He, Dr. Jon Gerrard in River Heights, and Cindy Lamoureaux (relocated to Tyndal Park), return to Broadway but the Libs fell short of official Party status.

Premier Pallister assured Audrey Gordon her
slim margin of victory in Southdale didn't bother him

Lamont waffled to the left with scads of climate change pronouncements trying to stem leakage to the Green Party, and made spending promises that even made socialists blush. In the process attracted only 5005 more votes and failed to hold a 4th seat and retain party status. 
The scant economic policy didn't chip into Tory support, and the ground game simply didn't materialize. I suspect the Trudeau government's scandals made even considering a checkmark beside a candidate labeled Liberal a no-go for more than a few voters. 

As for the Manitoba Green Party, support for leader James Beddome in Fort Rouge was tripled by Kinew, and the Party failed to close a 392 vote gap in Wolseley and saw it grow to 917, and out of reach, for David Nickarz. The Green wave is D-O-A here, and in his speech Kinew already promoted that progressive left is spelled N-D-P in this province. It's too bad because voters need more candidates with more new ideas, not less.

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Premier Pallister was working the room sharing the thrill of victory around 11 PM and when he noticed me, laughingly remarking how after all these years (we first met in 1993) "we're getting better with age!" 

"Mazel Tov! Hey, I want to get a 30 minute interview with you sometime." Immediately I got the infamous Pallister steely glare. "No." I figured he was joking so I said, "OK, 20 minutes then!"

"No. You, and Bartley Kives," he said. 

Instantly he burst out laughing at the look on my face, reached down, grabbed and shook my hand some more and said "AWWWW I'm just joshing with you, of course we can!"

He conceded after the win that the biggest take-away is that his government needs to do a better job of listening, and I will hold them to that. There are a number of issues that I covered during the election that may not matter to MSM, but do to my audience.

I would ask Premier Pallister about construction contract corruption strangling Manitoba-based trades, and why accountability for the engineering profession has deteriorated under the revised Act to the point they act like a protection racket. And more:

* Will he curtail the WRHA continuing to pump out 2 million "harm reduction" needles for meth addicts with no responsibility to deal with the impact of discarded used rigs in the community? What about the meth detox unit proposal of Morberg House that has so much support from politicians of all stripes, including two members of his own caucus?

* Will loopholes in the candidate disclosure law (ie Garnishment Orders, and by the way the list is up to 4 NDP'ers now) be closed? 

* And not that it was an election issue, but the antique City of Winnipeg Act is a problem every week at City Hall - if there's changes to come, your voice needs to be heard.

Those are on the kitchen table, so to speak, of my audience.
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I'm pitching for your help again: my donor campaign had some good spurts of support but waned towards the end of the campaign. 

If you readers think I have contributed to overall coverage of the 2019 Manitoba election and want me to do more of the same with the Federal Election kicking off, your help to keep the lights and internet on, cover gas and transportation costs. Some wiggle room for adding and upgrading equipment are going to be needed.
My goal is to raise another $1000 - and every donation of $100 or more gets a copy of RETROPEG, a veritable time capsule of black and white photos of the streets and scenes of Winnipeg in the 70's. It's a rare, beautiful book and I have yours.

The stories I was able to produce since the end of June is thanks to the people who donated because they believe in citizen journalism. 
I do my best every day to maintain their trust and confidence.

Please take a moment to check out this story and see how easy it is to join the donor club to stand with independent reporting.

Reyes Working New Riding To Keep Legislature Seat; Weekend Roundup Of Pronouncements

Coming from a military and small business background, Jon Reyes says he's used to putting in the hard work and long hours needed in seeking re-election to the Manitoba Legislature, as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Waverley. 

I caught up to Reyes at the opening of his campaign office and in this clip, see his explanation about the make-up of the new riding and how his family experience as immigrants helps him understand the challenges that new Canadians in his riding are dealing with. 

Among election announcements this weekend:

- Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont addressed economic issues as part of a 10 year strategic infrastructure plan "to prioritize urgent and high-return-on-investment infrastructure projects. The party promised to invest on average $1.6-billion per year for ten years. 

"This $16 billion investment would see a return of almost $21 billion to Manitoba during that time frame." 

Included will be a study of rail relocation / rationalization for the City of Winnipeg, and costs related to linking it with CentrePort, as well as the possibility of creating a commuter / light rail system on the vacated tracks. The study should cost an estimated $3-million. 

Seeking to expand it's presence in the Assembly beyond the Party status minimum of 4 seats, the Liberals "will also apply previously announced “buy local” and local procurement policies to the projects and ensure there is a level playing field so local companies can apply."

- The New Democratic Party attacked PC proposals that focused largely on women's health issues and services, claiming that Premier Brian Pallister "Refused to let the Health Minister answer questions about women’s reproductive health for three years" while closing programs for lactating mothers, mature women, and cutting funding to Cancer Care Manitoba

- Reye's campaign office roommate Sarah Guillemard said a re-elected PC government "will invest $3.4 million per year to implement initiatives that help all Manitobans". 

The promises include enhanced mental health and specialized trauma counselling, establishing a six seat Bachelor of Midwifery program at the University of  Manitoba, and reducing wait times "for Manitobans seeking treatment for eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating."

- Not in the realm of an announcement, but a first-time Green Party candidate messaged me and related the following: 

"You know what's a very interesting thing ... hearing disaffected conservative voters tell me they're looking for options and voting Green this year." 

Is Green going to be the new "parked my vote" space in 2019?

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I have more unique breaking news coming up from the Manitoba election

No one else has the experience I have to dig out news and issues in Winnipeg!

Last week we made waves with reports about construction trade contract corruption squeezing Manitoba-based operations.

We are also bringing exclusive news about the growing momentum to get the next government to put the vacated care facility at 800 Adele back on the agenda to serve Manitobans as a meth detox and education hub.

Go to this page and see how you can donate to fund my provincial and federal election coverage, with more City Hall reporting on the way!

Help me watch out for you and your family, and keep those seeking your votes on their toes

Construction Billings Owed By Mb. Gov't Exempted From Prompt Payment Law / Guillemard Talks Fort Richmond Issues

Allegations that construction sub-trades hired under provincial contracts are being exploited by underhanded payment and contract practices struck a nerve with readers online, with one raising the issue of whether legislation already in the works would solve the problem.

Whistleblower Jocelyn Burzuik of Sundance Construction, told us her own experience with unpaid invoices for completed work was echoed by voters employed in construction that she met on the hustings last weekend. 

She is seeking election in the Red River North constituency which is a new riding and therefore has no incumbent. 

Jeff Wharton, a Pallister government cabinet minister has shifted over from the former Gimli riding to establish himself as the front-runner. 

She held a protest march outside his former constituency office this summer about her own unpaid invoices but he failed to show, resulting in Burzuik taking the leap into politics to squarte off against him.

Burzuik told TGCTS that a deliberate witholding of interim payments was starving the cash flow of Manitoba-based general contractors and subtrades, warning out-of-province bidders now being handed contracts were going to learn a hard lesson.

One reader responded on Facebook about being a victim of the contract abuses:

"The cost start to mount ... the money we invested, remitting GST and source deductions... alot of us subs work for pennies compared to the big guys cause we (have) lesser overhead...but we are suffering. All we want to do is make an honest living and be paid for our services".

Another reader added: 
"And lots of the time small construction companies can't keep footing labor costs while they're waiting for a large check to come in and get into a situation where liquidation is the only opportunity"

Another brought up a factor Buznuik hadn't mentioned:

Marty- what about the prompt payment bill in the works? From a supplier point of view, contracts are drawn up with progress payments in the deal. Lacking this, is on the contractor. ... What I am saying so there is legislation in the works to provide a legal remedy for prompt payment for contractors and GC’s. This has been in the works for over a year, most industry associations are pushing hard for it.

In a follow-up inquiry, Buznuik said that the payment problems caused by the government department still wouldn't be resolved.

"The legislation addresses GC (general contractors) to subs and suppliers. Once GC gets paid,  the subs (sub-trades) do with short period of time.
But it does not address the #1 problem - delayed payment from owner, normally the Gov, to the GC. 

There is no provision for subs even in existing legislation to get paid if the GC has not been paid.
If the Gov delays, which they do, prompt payment legislation means nothing. 90% of the time, it's the owner delaying payment.

No one talks about that - yet it's the biggest problem. The fact is that today, a government Receivable is no longer a "good" receivable." 

She says that factor - that timely payments under a Manitoba government contract is not seen as worth the paper it's written on - is affecting access to bank credit for the GC's and sub-trades.

A former 19 year member of the Canadian Military who started her construction company in 2013, she outlined her own current payment conditions:

"Since 2015, I have told Gov departments that I get my cash is 21 days or less or I walk. MB Housing - 21 days always. Hydro 30-45 days. MIT 30-60 if they agree on it. 
INR - I demand cash up front.  
FN's it's cash up front now. 
I don't order materials til 100% of that is fronted. 
I want my labour before I leave bi-weekly. 
Indigenous Services (federal) is paying on 60-180 days normally", she said,  adding that the provincial Indigenous Northern Relations (INR) was paying "after 45-180 days - or never."

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I gladly took up the invitation of Jon Reyes to drop by the opening of his dual campaign office on south Pembina Highway, where he's splitting rental costs and sharing efficiencies (like nails and hammers for signs) with caucus-mate Sarah Guillemard. 

Both MLA's were first elected in 2016 and are running again under the Progressive Conservative banner, with Reyes relocating to a newly created riding of Waverly, and Guillemard staying put in Fort Richmond. 

Watch this interview clip and see  Sarah describe the slightly altered riding boundaries, and the different issues between the U of M district and the west side of Pembina. She says that expert educators within the riding would help a re-elected Pallister government fix the shortcomings flagged by parents in the overall curriculums. 

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Go to this link to see how you can join the donors who stand with my independent media platform.

Donations to help cover the costs of covering the Manitoba election have come in from conservatives, liberals and yes, even NDP supporters, - and from a Green Party member last week too! 

There's more news that voters need to know about than just the stories corporate journalism puts out. 

The fundraising campaign has focused on finding 100 donors at $50 each, but some people have kicked in more, and some less. 

I appreciate every dollar that my readers contribute and will continue to work hard to bring your questions and issues forward and to hold politicians and bureaucrats accountable. 

Still to come:  
- Tonight's Drug and Crime policy town hall hosted by St. Boniface Street Links at 271 Rue de la Cathedrale at 7 PM; 
- more election video with PC MLA's Shannon Martin, Reyes and Guillimard; 
- more about flawed data and methodology from the WRHA's free needle program failure, 
- and City Hall is going to get an earful about a few things too. 

Manitoba Infrastructure Contract Corruption "Like a Mini-Quebec"/ Bonus Video - Liberal Platform Shifts To Green Turf

A first-time political hopeful says she was shocked at the number of families identifying their most urgent election issue at the doorsteps this weekend in the new riding of Red River North. It wasn't carbon taxes, not health care, not immigration. 

She found dozens of households frantic about struggling to pay their mortgages because of delayed payments on government infrastructure contracts, the end result of a toxic culture embedded within the government bureaucracy.

"Conservative voters are angry and frustrated" Jocelyn Burzuik told me Sunday night. "The areas I was in (East Selkirk and East St. Paul) are predominently small businesses and contractors - and they are not working." 

Contracts are now increasingly being awarded to general contractors from other provinces making lowball bids, while grassroots firms that employ Manitobans are being sidelined.

A whistleblower and former engineering student, Burzuik has years of experience in construction and building and has owned Sundance Construction and Safety Consulting since 2013. She has lifelong roots in the region as a Red River Metis and leapt into politics after the Province failed to pay up on a contract for work done in Nelson House on the water system, owing her $2.3 Million. 

Now running as a candidate for the Manitoba First Party, she says the core of the problem is the Pallister government turns a blind eye to the 'don't give a damn' attitude of the government's staff engineers. They are supposed to oversee huge infrastructure contracts handed to their allies from corporate engineering firms hired as supervising consultants. 

According to Burzuik, those consulting arrangements have gradually removed performance liability for the bureaucrats' favored firms, and as a result there is no accountability. 

"It's a dirty business and the Tories are oblivious to it as were the NDP before - the policies and people in the department didn't change."

"The procurement process for construction in Canada is simply rife with corruption. 

The relationships between engineering, government, and legal are incestuous and this brings no value to how our dollars are spent. We see it provincially, federally. 

And there is a way to fix it."

Engineers on staff with the Province are supposed to monitor third party consultants that manage road construction, sewer and water, and other projects. Instead, she says, "they fail to execute the contract conditions that protect general contractors, and punish whistleblowers who report poor planning, shoddy work, unsuitable materials, and complain about not getting paid on time - or at all." 

Burzuik cited one company that has still not been paid for work completed for the East Side Road Authority since 2016. 

While door-knocking in the riding, she heard the concerns of government employees that work in construction, as well as general contractors and small business contractors like single trades operators. "The minute I mention I'm a builder and a business owner, the welcome I got was phenomenal. In all areas I canvassed, the conversation was consistent."

The feedback Burzuik got reflected that the sector is being throttled by unpaid progress installments and other bad-faith plays. She says payouts from the Pallister government are being stalled far past the 30 day receivable agreement with general contractors, causing damaging ripple effects throughout the Manitoba economy. 

"People told me they wait for up to 6 months to get a cheque from the department, meaning sub trades and suppliers are suffering without any care shown by elected officials or their department staff. This squeeze on the cashflow of hard-working trades is killing businesses, such as Hugh Munro. That's a family business for 50 years, a Metis business, hundreds of pieces of machinery liquidated." 

Burzuik says Manitoba is part of a nation-wide problem, best understood through the SNC Lavelin influence-peddling scandal that has engulfed the Prime Minister. "That's the model across the country. It's choking the life out of Manitoba construction companies, subtrades and suppliers." 

"Not just SNC - it's time to break up the Corporate Engineering lobby. It's the single biggest drain on tax dollars and props up corruption in construction in Canada. It's not taking millions - it's billions.  

As a consequence of the toxic culture around government contracts, and the fact they can be breached and broken without any consequence, "The best engineers in the province no longer work with the province because they can't wrap their minds around doing work that is not in the public interest - and not being paid for it." 

Burzuik described a cause-and-effect that voters can relate to: 
"Do you have any idea how much money is being wasted in government right now? We don't need more taxation - we need existing dollars to be spent wisely. On the ground, over a few projects- I saw hundreds of millions spent for nothing. Change that - you got your dollars for programs."

"It's like we're a mini-Quebec, that's what it feels like." 

More details to come...
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Last week I was asked to give an overview of the Manitoba provincial election for The Gunn Show on Rebel Media. 

Here's a clip where I describe the Liberal Party campaign launch announcement: 

Sheila Gunn Reid has me on her program every month, generally to discuss the work we do at TheJ.ca, covering Jewish and pro- Israel issues like exposing the links between marxist radicals and antisemites/anti-Zionists of all stripes. 

I am quite glad that my role with Sheila has expanded to providing political analysis about Manitoba and Winnipeg politics and social issues (like harm reduction policies that backfire) for her viewers and expect to be on again before the September 10th vote.

I am reporting on angles and issues from a citizen journalist perspective. This is unique in local media. 

My series about flawed used needle data - where it even is being aggregated - and the fact health mandarins' "harm reduction" policy is based on a study from of all places Baltimore - the study is 23 years old now by the way - has started a discussion not only about dirty needle pick-ups in Winnipeg, but on ways to deliver detox services to meth addicts. It's making a difference.

My next story on those issues will be a report from an election town hall hosted by St. Boniface Street Links this Wednesday at 271 Avenue de la Cathedrale from 7-9 pm. 

All parties have been invited to describe their platform for Mental Health & Addictions and Crime Prevention and the public will be invited to ask questions. 

The Town Hall provides opportunity for the public to hear from all Parties in a structured, moderated environment. See you there!

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Donations to help cover the costs of covering the Manitoba election have come in from conservatives, liberals and yes, even NDP supporters, - and from a Green Party member last week too! There's more that voters need to know about than just the stories corporate journalism puts out. 

Go to this link to see how you can join the donors who stand with my independent media platform.

The fundraising campaign has focused on finding 100 donors at $50 each, but some people have kicked in more, and some less. I appreciate every dollar that my readers contribute and will continue to work hard to bring your questions and issues forward and to hold politicians and bureaucrats accountable. 

Still to come: more election video with PC MLA Shannon Martin, more flawed data and methodology from the WRHA's free needle program failure, and City Hall is going to get an earful about a few things too. 

Manitoba Leaders Jockey For Health Care Voters; Seven Oaks ER Closure Not So Heated, Says Tory Hopeful

With a bit of a target on his back, Liberal leader Dougald Lamont matched the governing PC's and opposition NDP in holding a morning press announcement Thursday in the sunny beauty of summery St. Boniface. 

After both parties launched hospital/health care promises in front of his riding's hospital on Wednesday, Lamont countered the next day with some coherent policy ideas to improve mental health services in the province. 

The groundwork has been laid over the past 10 years or so by Dr. Jon Gerrard when he was leader, and Lamont smartly took up the cause. 

One of the notable aspects is to include child (under 18) mental health assessment costs to flag and treat behavioral and learning disabilities as a listed service under Medicare. The 2-3 year wait time for kids to get evaluated in unacceptable and most often puts kids behind their peers permanently. Just ask any school librarian in rural and remote Manitoba, if there are any still being funded. 

Lamont also pledged an improved "access to psychological therapist program", based on a UK model. These are both great ideas, notwithstanding costs, staffing, and the other input factors. Here's the video clip:

The NDP started kicking at Lamont's door by holding the first presser in the riding this week, in LaVerendrye Park, across Tache St. from St Bonifice Hospital. But the pitch handed leader Wab Kinew by the orange braintrust was far beneath the weightier expectations of voters and pundits when it comes to the subject of health care priorities. 

Relieving the cost of parking near and at hospitals - a genuine issue in Winnipeg - is still only a bantamweight problem in the big picture and came off as an underwhelming use of the media's attention, especially with Premier Brian Pallister scheduled for the same park withi the hour. The cost of parking, and overtime tickets, when families are stressed out would be a decent part of package of "Five Ways The NDP Will Halt You Being Ripped Off", and the NDP should have found some other gouging issues of fees or permits or fines to champion with it. 

At 10 AM that same day, the Blue Crew set up a podium for Pallister to go big, with a $2B over 4 years spending program highlighted by a new ER for the highly stressed St. Boniface Hospital. 

New personal care home beds, improved diagnostic testing equipment, and more generous grants to hospitals and doctor billings was also on the menu. The media probed how much of the pledge was truly new provincial money compared to incoming increases in federal health care dollars, but Pallister refuted the theory, claiming the feds percentage was based on them having lowering the base amount in the first place, so they were just playing catch-up at a laggardly pace. 

Last weekend, I dropped by the opening of a PC campaign office for a parachute candidate in the new riding of McPhillips, trying to hold onto a seat with the governing Conservatives. 

Shannon Martin has migrated his campaigning machine from Morris to a unique hybrid riding with a chunk of city (mostly Garden City) and an exurban northern half, with common priorities for both of trust and taxation. 

The recent closure of the ER at the Seven Oaks Hospital has been controversial but Martin says that at the doorstep, while "the change has come up ... once you direct them the website, understanding urgent vs emergency ... (we're) ensuring the wait lists have been dealt with", allowing the "significant transition has not been without its stress", before taking a shot at the contradictory positions of Kinew and his erstwhile candidate in Fort Garry, Mark Wasyliw, about the conversion of the ER at the Victoria Hospital. Here's the video: 

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We know we're making waves because of our series on discarded needles and failed harm reduction practices in Winnipeg, and our look into meth and drug treatment programs, found here and here and also here. Plus this look at depressingly unacceptable Winnipeg Police crimefighting results.

TGCTS election coverage is just ramping up and has gotten noticed by political leaders and candidates, online interactors, and Rebel Media's Sheila Gunn Reid who has given me the chance to report on this election to a national audience. 

(Facebook even banned one of our URL's because the 'free needles for everyone' crowd gamed the system by ganging up on our stories. But censorship won't stop us this time.) 

This is only possible because of the financial support of people like you, who value an independent source of analysis and current affairs. 

If only 100 people who care about Manitoba politics and community issues kicked in $50, my coverage of both the Manitoba and the federal election through the end of October would be able to cover the bills. And I'll still keep an eye on City Hall too! 

Here's the page explaining the donor campaign and how to contribute, and stand up for MORE election reporting:
https://tgcts.blogspot.com/2019/06/theres-2-elections-coming-up-so-were.html