POLITICAL COMMENTARY 

Somewhere along the way, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew appears to have lost sight of what his actual job is. In a recent video posted to social media, Kinew declared that the United States is becoming a “third-world country” and urged people to push Americans and their administration away from what he described as the subversion of Western liberal democracy. It was a striking statement, not because it revealed insight, but because it revealed distraction. The Premier of Manitoba

Every December, newsrooms do what they always do. We debate the biggest story of the year. The arguments come fast. The Grey Cup was a success. The Manitoba PC leadership race produced a winner who actually had fewer votes than the other guy. City hall approved historic property tax increases. Protest permits kept flowing no matter how extreme the cause. An NDP MLA mocked a controversial speaker assignment instead of engaging it. All of those mattered. None of them stood abov

“Early election? No way,” Premier Wab Kinew told reporters recently. Fair enough. Politicians say that all the time. But when words and actions do not line up, people are right to ask questions. And right now, the Manitoba NDP’s actions tell a very different story. Consider a fundraising email now circulating among party supporters. It is blunt, urgent, and revealing. The writer admits to being “worried.” They explain they must soon report directly to Wab Kinew and provide a

Winnipeg is going to court. Anyone paying attention knew this was coming. Mayor Scott Gillingham and a majority of council chose to ignore a clear recommendation from the Manitoba Municipal Board on the Granite Curling Club land. They overruled provincial oversight, dismissed a condition designed to protect a long-standing community institution, and pushed through a zoning by-law anyway. The predictable result is now in front of the courts, with taxpayers once again footing t

Canada faces a troubling moment when the federal government claims to be fighting hate, yet directs its energy toward policing faith instead of confronting the violence already happening on our streets. Bill C-9 was supposed to deal with genuine threats. It was meant to ban public displays of swastikas and terrorist insignia, and create stronger penalties for intimidation. Most of that is already covered by existing law, which tells you this bill is more political show than r

There is a moment, every so often, when a government makes a choice that tells you exactly how it sees itself. Winnipeg just had one of those moments. The city’s leadership is signalling that it believes it can effectively overrule the provincial government, ignore the authority of a provincial board, and do so on the advice of its own public service rather than independent legal counsel. That raises a question residents and businesses deserve to ask out loud. Who does the ci