Premier Selinger talks about his decision to soldier on despite caucus rebellion
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/12/2014 (3388 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Watch Part II of the interview at the bottom of the story
Through it all, through the extended debate at the legislature over the increase to the provincial sales tax, through the unprecedented summer flooding and even when some NDP MLAs and senior staff began quietly whispering for his head, Premier Greg Selinger was fighting another battle.
Watching his mother die.
Margaret Selinger died last June 29 at St. Boniface Hospital of breast cancer. She was 85.
The premier, 63, has never publicly spoken about the passing of his mother, but in a half-hour, year-end interview with the Free Press, he said his mom’s influence throughout his life taught him about resiliency, a trait Manitobans see now as he fights to retain the leadership of the governing NDP.
During the interview, Selinger stuck tightly to script about the need for him, his MLAs and his staff not to dwell on what he called “the troubles with the organization,” but on the duty of each to rise above that and to focus on their responsibility to serve the province’s citizens to make life better for each of them.
He credits his mother for teaching him that.
“I think the lesson is that my mother was a person that was very independent-minded and always made her own way in life,” the premier said. “Those are always good lessons to take from any of your parents.
Selinger was born in Regina in 1951 and lived there until he was 11, when his mother moved to Winnipeg and opened a family clothing store in St. James.
She later worked in office administration and in real estate, and ensured there was enough money for him to attend the University of Manitoba, where he studied social work.
“We always learn from our parents, from their strengths and their weaknesses. I think the key there is that you have to be resilient and you’ve got to deal with the challenges in front of you in as constructive a way as as possible. I think that’s the way she lived her life. It’s a good example for me as well, and so I do that, and I think I’ve demonstrated that and will continue to demonstrate that.”
The premier also said the experience with his mother, and in her treatment, exposed him to the province’s medical care.
“There’s no question that the health-care system was fundamental to her ability to cope with the issues she was dealing with, cancer and some dementia as well, and what I found is that you really had to be persistent to navigate through the system and get the resources in place in a timely fashion,” he said.
“It really does give you the lesson of understanding how we have to make sure that we provide support for people that are going through these experiences of being ill or being challenged with issues of dementia. They need support to do that. Family can do it, but not every family can do it as much as is required. “The system has to be there to be a partner with families. I found that system was quite good, and I thought that they were compassionate and I thought that they really delivered timely care, and they did that for everybody that they were in contact with, and we want to continue to do that.”
“There is a lot of stress in the system (health care spending takes up more than one third of the province’s budget) because we have issues of chronic disease in this province, and even though we’re a younger province—the average age is about 37—we also have a lot of people that are living longer well into their 80s, and at a certain point they’re going to need additional support.”
He said that support includes more personal care home beds, more easily-accessible medical care through the province’s new Quick Care Clinics and providing care to seniors still living at home.
“What I experienced was that universal health care makes a huge difference in those challenging times in people’s end-of-life situations,” he said.
The premier also acknowledged the discontent with his leadership within his own caucus and staff, some who’ve already left their jobs, because of their disagreement with Selinger and his insistence he not resign as premier.
Selinger said he began asking his staff and MLAs in one-on-one meetings last spring for their opinions on his and the government’s performance, the underlying question being whether he should step down to allow a new leader to lead the NDP into the next election in April 2016 and compete against Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservatives.
He said he got a “mixed bag” of opinions, but also feedback that supported him and encouraged him to carry on with his agenda.
“When you think about it, there are always people that are interested in change—that’s the nature of caucus, he said. “People have different priorities, they have different loyalties, they have different ambitions. But the point is you’re supposed to work through those based on the principles of solidarity and co-operation.
“If you look at the life of any government there’s always internal debate going on about leadership questions,” he added. “Who’s interested and who’s not interested. That’s just a regular part of the political process.”
Much of that internal discontent goes back to the 2013 budget and the premier’s unilateral decision to raise the provincial sales tax by one point, and the lack of any communications plan on how it would be sold to Manitobans.
The frustrations the premier was dragging down the party even further by staying in office simmered for months before erupting Nov. 3 with the resignations of Jennifer Howard, Theresa Oswald, Andrew Swan, Erin Selby and Stan Struthers from cabinet. They were subsequently replaced by Selinger in a lightening-speed cabinet shuffle.
Selinger said he had no prior warning of the mass resignation, and as a result, has now found himself in a battle to keep his job that will only be decided March 8 at the NDP’s annual convention.
“I did not anticipate it would go the way that it did,” he said. “I don’t think anybody did particularly, but here we are.
“You never want anybody to leave in a negative way, but the reality is that there are other good people that are willing to do the job and have stepped up and have played a very strong role.”
While Selinger said he has strived to keep the leadership contest separate from the day-to-day running of government, he admits it’s been a challenge.
“Winston Churchill said it’s a messy business, it’s maybe one of the worst forms of government, except that there is none better,” he said. “Sure, there are going to be times when people have bad experiences and their feelings get hurt. That happens all around.”
The premier said that he will be able to separate his duties as a sitting premier from campaigning to keep his job, and that to recuse himself from his office for a leadership campaign, brought on by of the five former ministers, would undermine parliamentary governance.
However, questions have been raised about his hiring of Heather Grant-Jury to the new position of principal secretary, and Paul McKie as deputy principal secretary. Both have union backgrounds and came to work for Selinger in the days after his battle with the five former ministers became public. He has already parted company with chief of staff Liam Martin and associate director of cabinet communications Sally Housser.
Selinger said the hiring of Grant-Jury and McKie was to “strengthen his team” and not about surrounding himself with people he could trust.
“It was about making sure we had a group of good, strong people to stay focused on the priorities of Manitobans,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”
He also said what’s largely been ignored, because of the leadership turmoil, is just how well the province is performing compared to other provinces—despite his government’s continuing battle with the budget deficit and reducing spending.
RBC Economics recently said Manitoba will be one of the leaders in economic growth next year, tying British Columbia for the second-strongest real gross domestic product growth in 2015, at 2.9 per cent.
The provincial government’s recently released economic outlook said Manitoba’s unemployment rate was third lowest among provinces and that average weekly earnings were up 4.1 per cent in 2014 with the increase in number of full-time jobs. The growth in earnings was the strongest since 2007 before the global recession hit.
“There is other good news that has come out recently,” Selinger said. “We’ve seen our rating as an economy rise to number two (among provinces) and we’re going to be the second best performing economy in the country this year with a very strong forecast for next year. That shows we’re working with all of our partners to get results.
“I know there are all these other issues that are generating a lot of media headlines,” he added. “In the midst of all that you have to continue to do your job.
“We have to continue to focus on that and make sure we get underneath any of the other issues that are going on to make sure that solid economic base continues.”
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
wfpvideo:3950110974001:wfpvideoLarry Kusch
Legislature reporter
Larry Kusch didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life until he attended a high school newspaper editor’s workshop in Regina in the summer of 1969 and listened to a university student speak glowingly about the journalism program at Carleton University in Ottawa.