Popularity continues for Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, but challenges lie ahead

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s popularity shows little sign of waning more than a year after he led the provincial New Democrats to power.

But there are some tough choices ahead as he tries to fulfil promises to improve health care, address poverty and get the government’s finances in order.

Kinew has carried through on election promises to hire more health-care workers, expand school nutrition programs and temporarily suspend the provincial fuel tax for a one-year period that is to end Jan. 1.

The NDP government has also announced extra funding for the arts, policing and other items. Opinion polls continue to rank highly the NDP as a party and Kinew as a premier.

What Kinew has yet to show is a plan to control spending in order to balance the budget by 2027 — another campaign promise — and end a long series of deficits in Manitoba, said political analyst Paul Thomas.

“At some point, you have to make hard choices,” said Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba. “You don’t get to continue to say yes to most requests that come along.”

In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Kinew said he’s working on ways to add front-line staff to health care while finding cost savings elsewhere.

The Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care ministry — by far the biggest-spending government department — was allocated hundreds of millions of more dollars in this year’s budget to boost staffing levels and add hospital beds.

A mid-year fiscal update earlier this month said the department was on track to spend even more and run $438 million over budget.

“I think it’s important for us to keep that flexibility with health spending right now because we are trying to match the needs of the health-care system to the population,” Kinew said.

“A lot of what we’re doing right now is trying to get through this transitional period of scaling up health care to the appropriate size.”

When pressed for specifics on where the government is cutting costs, Kinew hinted there was guidance being given to some departments.

“We are looking at making sure that the belt tightening that we do is more like, ‘Do you really need that software subscription? Does the lobby really need a new coat of paint in someone’s office?'” Kinew said.

“Things like that, which individually are smaller-scale decisions, but over an apparatus the size of the provincial government … it does total tens of millions of dollars.”

The latest deficit projection for the current fiscal year is $1.3 billion — $513 million higher than the original budget projection.

The government will face new spending requirements as it ramps up, among other initiatives, new programs to tackle homelessness.

Kinew is a gifted public speaker and communicator who connects with the public as empathetic and caring, Thomas said. The premier also uses social media well and his New Democrats often set up news conferences in community settings where supporters and funding recipients are in attendance and applauding.

The New Democrats are also helped by the state of the Opposition Progressive Conservatives, who are still working to rebuild after losing the last election and are under an interim leader until their convention slated for April, Thomas added.

Kinew’s public missteps have been few so far, and Thomas said the premier has moved quickly to address them before controversy can grow.

Kinew came under fire in September after Mark Wasyliw was removed from the NDP caucus. Kinew said it was because Wasyliw’s former law partner was representing convicted sex offender Peter Nygard.

The legal community said the premier was attacking the role defence lawyers play in the justice system. Kinew apologized and the New Democrats cited other reasons for Wasyliw’s dismissal.

The NDP also backtracked quickly in the spring after initially cutting funding for “green team” youth summer jobs. Many community groups denounced the move, and funding was partially restored.

“Issues have come and gone, but it hasn’t dented (the NDP’s) image and reputation,” Thomas said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2024.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press