Women key to Kinew’s plan

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This article was published 13/12/2017 (2325 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew wants to have at least 15 women in caucus if he forms a majority government in 2020. And he thinks there’s a ready pool of candidates among professionals politicized by what Premier Brian Pallister is doing to the health-care system.

“We’ve set a specific target,” Kinew said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re trying to form a government that looks as much as possible like the province looks.”

Kinew said his goal is to have women win at least half of the 29 seats the NDP would need to form a majority in the 57-seat legislature, not simply to field women as half the candidates.

He’s established a working group to identify, recruit and mentor potential candidates, who he hopes will be nominated by early 2019, after boundary changes are made for the next election.

The NDP leader said he especially hopes to recruit health-care professionals affected by the provincial government’s cuts to the system, educators facing cuts Kinew predicts are coming and community activists.

“A lot of discussion is about bringing in people who are not in the political realm already — looking at various activist communities, bringing their activism to a new level,” he said.

“I think there is a renewed interest in the health-care field of people becoming politicized because of the damage.”

The New Democrats have four women among their 13 MLAs: Nahanni Fontaine, Amanda Lathlin, Bernadette Smith and Flor Marcelino.

The Tories have eight women in their 40-member caucus and the Liberals have two in their three-member caucus.

Kinew wouldn’t name any possible candidates, nor would he speculate whether any current caucus members won’t be running in 2020.

He expects some of the best potential NDP candidates will run federally in a handful of Manitoba ridings in 2019, and others could run in municipal and school board elections next fall, though he won’t rule out trying to recruit any women after they win local office.

“Right now, the potential candidates we’re looking to are not running in the municipal election, but that’s not something we’re ruling out,” he said.

Kinew is aware the Conservatives will continue to attack him on his past, and he can expect prospective candidates will want to discuss his past: domestic assault charges that were stayed, and misogyny and homophobia in rap lyrics.

“I’m sure it will happen. For the most part, (so far) it’s been people asking genuine questions. I am committed to gender equity,” he said.

Candidates don’t have to live in the constituency, but it’s important for people to have a connection to the area they would be running in, Kinew said.

He promised not to impose candidates on constituency associations, but also wouldn’t speculate what might happen if NDP leadership rival Steve Ashton sought the nomination in Thompson, or if others who opposed his leadership wanted to run.

Some candidates who lost in the 2016 election merit another chance, Kinew said.

He would especially like to win back Assiniboia, where maverick Tory Steven Fletcher got booted out of caucus. Fletcher could go federal, though, Kinew said.

The NDP needs to win back the majority of Winnipeg seats it held until the 2016 election, along with seven rural and northern seats the party lost last year.

Kinew conceded with a laugh he doesn’t like his chances of defeating Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen in Steinbach, but predicted there could be other unexpected seats in play.

“I think we’ll redraw the map in the next election. There are ridings that haven’t been in play before. There’s anger in Tory ridings over health cuts.”

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca