Right in the centre - Marching toward change

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Published on Thursday, March 10, 2016

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

There’s a pattern that the year seems to follow. For as long as I can remember, March is the big decision month. What crops to finalize planting intentions for, what machinery to buy, how much land to seed. All those decisions have had a lot of planning go into them, but it seems that March is decision time. 

It looks like the same is true for Manitoba politics. Sure, the election is in April, the 19th to be exact, but a lot of things are happening in March. Strangely enough, there are some decisions being made in March that should have been made a long time ago. The NDP are still swapping out MLAs and candidates and don’t have a full set. They are still about 10 short. The Liberals are in the same mode and are even shorter of candidates. It will be interesting to see if, as in some elections, any last minute candidates actually get elected. It has happened before, when candidates who didn’t think they had a hope actually made it into a legislature seat.

It speaks volumes to the planning ability of political parties that the NDP and the Liberals are still trying to get candidates, it shows how low a priority it is for parties to fill the candidate slots. It speaks volumes to how little the people of Manitoba actually care about who gets elected. The PC party has a full slate and kudos to them, but it wasn’t without its struggles.

So why is there such a void of candidates? There are only 57 seats. We all know that parties have known that forever. They also have known for a long time when the election would be held. It is no surprise. There should have been full slates of candidates a long time ago. The problem may lie with the level of commitment that is required to be a candidate or an MLA. Your life goes on hold if you are seeking a hard fought nomination. Fortunately, nomination battles don’t usually take too long. With a fixed election date, the campaign becomes almost a life sentence. You are always campaigning. The time commitment and money commitment is huge. And let’s face it, if you are a candidate, your chances are one in three that you will get a thankless job and not a huge salary. You will be required, if you are a rural candidate, to constantly be travelling to Winnipeg for meetings that could have been held by speaker phone or Skype. You will get asked asinine questions by city dwellers like, “Oh it’s great that you drove in for this 5 p.m meeting. Are you driving all the way home tonight?” Well, duh, yes, you may have had to leave home or work at noon to get to a 5 p.m. meeting and a restaurant meal. Of course, you are driving home, that’s where your bed is, the family is and the work is. I personally have been through that experience many times and I have not even been an MLA, only a candidate or party volunteer. The travel alone and the lack of understanding of the depth of commitment from a rural candidate or MLA is enough to discourage a person.

So why do people want to do this job? The answer is almost always the same, regardless of political stripe, that they want to make a difference, to people and our province. In spite of what people say about politicians, it isn’t about the money, that’s for sure. I have known too many politicians to know that. Money isn’t the case, sure the wages aren’t bad, but the travel and time commitment is enough to wear down a cast iron personality.

So, as we approach the election, I take my hat off to anyone who is willing to run. After April 19, we will have 57 MLAs and quite frankly, it certainly is time to change governments. The Winnipeg Free Press says the Liberal Party of Manitoba isn’t ready and evidence points to that. The NDP party is in disarray and again quite frankly, doesn’t deserve to take Manitoba into a thicker grey  cloud of debt and indecisiveness. The PC Party appears poised to form government. They have evolved through four leaders since the last time they formed government. It appears that with Brian Pallister, they have it right this time. They found out that electing nice men didn’t translate into votes, they have to be tough too. When it comes time to change government, and that is of course, an assumption, the people want change that offers hope for better days to come.