Brian Pallister struck a conciliatory tone one day after his Tories swept the NDP out of power in a provincial election.
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Pallister said he is a workaholic.
That works out to about one-fifth of the 3 1/2 years he has been Opposition leader. The document includes plans for a new tax bracket on high incomes, small tax credit increases for lower- and middle-income earners and more spending on health care. That middling score amounts to a love-in compared with people’s impressions of Selinger (25-62 approval/disapproval) and Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari (20-58), who opened the election hoping to surge but ran a Producers-esque disaster of a campaign with peculiar statements, dicey ideas, poor organization and a dismal TV debate performance.
During the campaign, Pallister hammered on the broken promise of the tax hike, which took the levy seven per cent to eight per cent.
Pallister returned to provincial politics in 2012 succeeding Hugh McFadyen as leader of the Manitoba Tories.
If a leader doesn’t earn love in a victorious election, she or he must work to gain or maintain respect in government. The new premier comes in boasting approval of 45 per cent of Manitobans according to an Insights West poll, and 41-per-cent disapproval.
Selinger did win his St. Boniface seat, but the NDP lost a number of cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Greg Dewar, Health Minister Sharon Blady and Agriculture’s Ron Kostyshyn.
He also lost voters’ trust during the campaign over misstatements.
Opinion polls have shown a solid Tory lead throughout the campaign.
With voters set to cast ballots Tuesday, Tory Leader Brian Pallister played offence, travelling to the northern NDP stronghold constituencies of Keewatinook and The Pas.
Selinger also raised questions about two of Pallister’s party members: Tyndall Park candidate Dr. Naseer Warraich, whose medical license was suspended for two months in 2006 and Kaur Sidhu, the PC candidate in The Maples.
“240 days is a lot of days to not be in your province”.
Selinger was interrupted at an election rally when a woman grabbed the microphone from him and accused Child and Family Services of taking away her children. After the election was called, Selinger made a speech to his supporters, saying he took responsibility for the NDP’s massive defeat.
One analyst said the NDP campaign had problems, largely because it was run by less-experienced backroom strategists. Pallister was in the Latin American country during flooding that was occurring in Manitoba in 2014. Pallister also drew criticism when media reported that the Conservative leader had been on vacation in Costa Rica during a 2014 flood.
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Notley may find herself alone at the premier’s table for some time to come.
