Greg Selinger, former Manitoba premier, is honoured with legislature portrait

WINNIPEG — Former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger was surrounded by family, supporters and former colleagues Tuesday as his portrait was unveiled at the legislature.

It was a rare occasion in the spotlight for Selinger, who has kept a low public profile since leaving politics in 2018 — two years after his New Democrats were defeated by the Progressive Conservativies.

The painting, which will hang in a hallway next to the portraits of his predecessors, depicts Selinger on the front porch of his home, holding a quilt made by his wife.

He said the choice of location was deliberate.

“There’s that old expression ‘all politics are local’, so you start from your front door every morning. You step out the front door and you make the best of every day,” Selinger said.

The quilt is a metaphor for how to live — with individual pieces, like people, coming together to create something better, he said.

Peter Bjornson, who served in Selinger’s cabinet, said Selinger was a caring leader who enacted many progressive policies.

“He governed from the heart,” Bjornson said.

Premier Wab Kinew also attended the hour-long ceremony.

Selinger brought Kinew, a former broadcaster, on board as a star candidate in 2016. The following year, Kinew won the party leadership and later asked Selinger to resign his legislature seat over allegations a NDP cabinet minister had inappropriately touched women.

Selinger served 10 years as finance minister before becoming NDP leader and premier in 2009.

A former social worker, he developed programs to address poverty and cracked down on short-term, high-interest loans.

Selinger, faced with a fiscal crunch caused in part by a sharp reduction in federal equalization payments, missed balanced budget targets and, in 2013, raised the provincial sales tax to eight per cent from seven.

The NDP government’s popularity began to tumble months later. He resigned as party leader after the NDP was defeated by the Progressive Conservatives in 2016.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press