Spouses add spice to politics

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/08/2014 (4385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Should the beliefs or actions of a spouse, child, mother, father, aunt, uncle or cousin of a politician have an impact on the public perception of the elected official?

Or during an election campaign, when the mud flies and the only the strongest will survive, how much weight should the media or public give to a pile of dirt dug up by an opponent on a spouse of a leading candidate?

In the Winnipeg mayoral election, it’s pretty clear that even a Facebook post from 2010 leaked through an rarely used Twitter account can cause some serious damage. It has even greater impact if it’s also released on a Friday in August, one of the slowest times of the year for real news, when editors are scrambling to fill the weekend papers and the Twitterverse has plenty of time on its hands.

In the provincial capital, there are eight people so far running to replace scandal-plagued Mayor Sam Katz, who is not seeking re-election on Oct. 22.

A story by The Canadian Press issued on the Winnipeg election race over the weekend stated the biggest and most serious controversy exploded Friday, when an anonymous Twitter user circulated a four-year-old Facebook post by Lorrie Steeves, wife of former city councillor and current mayoral contender Gord Steeves.

In her 2010 post, she referred to aboriginal panhandlers as “drunken native guys” who collect welfare and harass people downtown. She issued a written apology in which she said felt terrible about having made the comments. Aboriginal leaders have said the comments reflect a not-uncommon view held by Winnipeg suburbanites.

It’s widely thought that one of Steeves opponents was hanging onto that grenade, just waiting for the perfect time to pull the pin. The former city councillor Steeves — who ran unsuccessfully for the provincial Progressive Conservatives in 2011 and is still running towards the right — on Friday pledged to reduce public intoxication in downtown Winnipeg.

Steeves said Winnipeggers still do not feel safe downtown. For that matter, we know of many visitors to Winnipeg also leave with tales of aggressive panhandlers, vehicle break-ins or, in worst-case scenarios, assaults.

Soon after the Steeves media conference a seldom-used Twitter account circulated a screen-capture image of a 2010 Facebook post by Steeves’ wife.

“We need to get these people educated so they can make their own damn money instead of hanging out and harrassing (sic) the honest people who are grinding away working hard for their money,” she wrote on her Facebook page, which was completely open for all viewers to read.

“We all donate enough money to government to keep their sorry assess [sic] on welfare, so shut the (expletive) up and don’t ask me for another handout.”

Lorrie Steeves issued a news release just before 6 p.m. Friday, apologizing for what she’d written, the Free Press reported.

Winnipeg media have since sought out several members of the aboriginal community and quoted their outrage to what they said was a racist comment.

Said one: “It’s a sad day for Winnipeg that we’re still having this debate.”

But who started the debate this time?

And what was the motive?

The first casualty in many political campaigns is the truth.

On Friday, Gord Steeves was hammering out his platform to get the drunks and druggies off Winnipeg streets. The sad fact is the great majority of the people who are suffering from addiction, poverty and homelessness are aboriginal.

That’s not racist, that’s a fact.

So while Lorrie Steeves could have perhaps phrased her Facebook post more eloquently — and figure out how to adjust the privacy settings — she was speaking from the heart of her first-hand experiences when she was working downtown.

But the damage will be done to Steeves’ campaign. He’ll now not just be one of the many candidates in the crowded field of centre-right and right hopefuls in the pack of eight, he’ll be the “racist” candidate.

In Brandon, we have also seen in recent times how a spouse of a politician can hurt the elected official’s image.

In our case, it was Mayor Shari Decter Hirst being in tax arrears for the second consecutive year for property she and husband Dr. Derry Decter own downtown.

“Here we are again,” Decter Hirst said when contacted by the Sun in January.

Decter Hirst said she was disappointed to be in this position again.

“My husband Derry is a great doctor, but he’s not so good at business,” she told the Sun.

While clearly trying to distance herself from the issues with those comments, she took a bold extra step in an interview the next day.

She called her husband an “idiot” during an interview with CBC Radio Noon.

Politics is all about perception.

Be it fair or not, the actions of a close family member — such as Lorrie Steeves in Winnipeg — or Derry Decter in Brandon — have a real impact on their political spouses.

Steeves will have to either embrace his new reputation as the candidate on the FAR right — not the best position in Winnipeg — or perhaps attempt to mend fences and eat some political crow while serving at a soup kitchen along with his wife — the damage to his image is done.

The same can be said for our mayor. While she attempted to lay the blame for failing to pay taxes on time squarely at her husband’s feet, the tax issue and her over-the-top reaction will be an issue for her during the election campaign.

Ultimately, in both cases, it will be up to the voters to decide what’s important to them — the candidates and their records along with new promises, or the actions of their loved ones.