‘Today is a new day in our province’

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This article was published 19/10/2023 (898 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s new premier, Wab Kinew, and his cabinet have been sworn in with a ceremony that featured traditional Indigenous music and dancing.

He led the New Democrats to victory on Oct. 3 and defeated the Progressive Conservatives, who had been in power for seven years.

“Today is a new day in our province,” Kinew told those gathered at The Leaf, a botanical attraction in Winnipeg.

“The people of this province have come together to declare that we are one people, one Manitoba, who are going to build one future together.”

Kinew becomes the first First Nations premier of a Canadian province and his 15-member cabinet includes, for the first time in Manitoba, First Nations women.

“Manitoba now has a Jewish lieutenant-governor, an Anishinaabe premier, a gender-balanced cabinet and a government MLA team that represents many walks of life from so many regions of this great province,” he said.

The NDP captured 34 of the 57 legislature seats on election night, and Kinew had many veteran politicians and rookies from which to pick his cabinet.

Two of those appointees are from Western Manitoba: Brandon East MLA Glen Simard — named minister of sports, culture, heritage and tourism, the minister responsible for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries and the minister responsible for francophone affairs — and Dauphin MLA Ron Kostyshyn, named minister of agriculture.

Reached by phone from Winnipeg, Simard said the new premier recognized his volunteering with youth sports and his work as a French immersion teacher in selecting him for the cabinet roles.

He said it was too early to say what he hopes to accomplish in his new role, with the first cabinet meetings and briefings on the file set for Thursday.

However, he said he Brandon should benefit greatly from having one of its provincial representatives at the cabinet table. In the previous government, now-retired Progressive Conservative MLAs Reg Helwer (Brandon West) and Cliff Cullen (Spruce Woods) were both in cabinet.

“With this Executive Council, it’s a smaller group than in previous cabinets,” Simard said. “Regional representation was an important piece in the formation of this cabinet. I’m in there to voice concerns for the region. It’ll be expected of me. I think that’s a really clear signal to people in Westman that the government values the opinions and input from the Westman region.”

Though the other two Brandon MLAs — Wayne Balcaen (Brandon West) and Grant Jackson (Spruce Woods) — will be sitting with the Tories on the Opposition benches, Simard said he hoped they could still work together for the betterment of the city and have already met together with Mayor Jeff Fawcett.

On the importance of Manitoba’s francophone community, Simard said he would liken it to Westman. Sometimes the community doesn’t feel heard or is snubbed from having government representation.

“The French language is the language of government,” Simard said. “It’s extremely important to be amplified. I’m excited to be able to do that as a Franco-Manitoban.”

One thing Simard won’t have to do as the minister responsible for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries is negotiate a new contract for staff. They voted to accept a new contract in late August, after a six-week strike that saw rotating closures at Liquor Marts.

Kostyshyn’s appointment to the agriculture file returns him to a position he held from 2012 to 2016 in the cabinet of former premier Greg Selinger while he was MLA for Swan River from 2011 to 2016. The beef and grain farmer was also briefly infrastructure minister and was the reeve of the RM of Mossey River from 2007 to 2009.

In a phone interview, Kostyshyn said his “heart and soul” is with agriculture given his experience in the field.

Since he was last in the role, the new minister said there have been technical innovation, higher costs and challenges presented by Mother Nature. Ultimately though, he said things have been changing positively.

“I think agriculture is so key,” he said. “And in the province of Manitoba, it’s one of the largest economic drivers … The added value of components that comes out of the raw product that’s produced by agriculture producers is definitely a major benefit.”

Like Simard, Kostyshyn said he’ll spend Thursday in cabinet meetings and briefings with departmental officials.

In a media release, Keystone Agricultural Producers general manager Brenna Mahoney said Kostyshyn’s previous experience in the role and as a producer provides confidence that farmers will have a voice at the cabinet table.

“We are confident that through our relationship with the new minister, as well as our continued collaboration with the department staff, there should be a seamless transition with key priorities including addressing labour shortages and designing programs that are accessible to producers.”

Uzoma Asagwara, a former psychiatric nurse who was the NDP health critic in Opposition, is the minister of health, seniors and long-term care and the deputy premier.

Two First Nations women have been named to cabinet: Nahanni Fontaine, the party’s house leader who is serving her third term and is now the minister of families; and Bernadette Smith, who is minister of housing, addiction and homelessness.

Adrien Sala, who served as NDP finance critic, is also serving a second term and is now the minister of finance.

The ceremony started off with an opening prayer by the chief of the Red Sucker Lake First Nation and the lighting of the Qulliq, a traditional oil lamp used by Inuit. That was followed by the Norman Chief Memorial Dancers performing the Red River Jig, a traditional Métis dance accompanied by a fiddle tune, a land acknowledgment by the chief of Long Plain First Nation, and speeches from some prominent Indigenous people.

Murray Sinclair, a former judge and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said he was honoured to congratulate Kinew.

“It really is Manitoba’s true act of reconciliation, and I want you to think of it that way. I want you to think of the fact that we are now entering a new phase,” Sinclair said to applause from the crowd.

“That phase ultimately is going to lead to a relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in which we are able to show true respect to all of those who are here and all of those who come here,” he said.

“For too long now, the situation and oppression that has occurred in this province has resulted in our people being belittled, feeling belittled and feeling denied of their rights. That, I believe, is all going to change.”

Some of the others in attendance at Wednesday’s ceremony included Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, Canadian actor Adam Beach and Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which represents 34 Anishnaabe and Dakota First Nations in southern Manitoba.

» cslark@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press

» X: @ColinSlark