New right-wing provincial party to focus on grassroots concerns: Keystone leader By: Danielle Da Silva Posted: 12:22 PM CDT Friday, Jul. 15, 2022

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This article was published 15/07/2022 (1548 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new provincial party is promising to put grassroots Manitobans at the centre of government and bring disengaged voters back into the political fold.

Keystone Party of Manitoba leader Kevin Friesen officially launched the right-wing, populist party Friday morning at Vimy Ridge Memorial Park in Winnipeg, with 30-40 supporters in attendance.

“We used to be called ‘friendly Manitoba.’ But our government has literally turned some of us on each other,” Friesen said during a keynote address under the mid-morning sun.

“So you ask how we bring Manitobans back together? Well, we start by letting families make decisions at the family level. We start by giving communities back their right to govern. We start by respecting our forefathers and what they fought for and what they established in the Canadian Bill of Rights (and) the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

The Manitou-area grain farmer said Keystone differs from establishment political organizations, as constituency associations will have full authority to select candidates to represent them in the upcoming general election next year.

“It will be you, the grassroots of Manitoba, that will find them. They will be your local business owners, your local farmers, your local school teachers or perhaps a local police officer,” he said. “It’s up to you… that’s something you probably haven’t heard from a government official in a long, long time.”

Party policy on immigration, climate change reconciliation and a range of other issues have yet to be decided as constituency associations will determine where they stand before bringing positions forward to voters for consideration, Friesen said.

‘Some of us were willing to be flexible when it came to lockdowns and mandates but some weren’t, some thought it was OK to force a medical decision on them for very personal choices, but let me be clear: the Keystone party is not OK with dictating those choices for Manitobans.’ – Kevin Friesen

However, the fledgling political party has published its principles, which include the freedom and rights of people as the keystone of democratic society; protection of Manitoba’s sovereignty and resistance against federal intrusion; conformity between policies and the charter and other guiding documents; the authority of parents over their children’s education; and a small government with balanced budgets.

Friesen’s speech leaned heavily on the division and anger sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic response, including business shutdowns, masks and vaccination requirements. He said supporters will have to release their inner genius to free residents from the “monstrous” societal divide, with the party providing the right environment to remove barriers that have suppressed their freedoms.

“Some of us were willing to be flexible when it came to lockdowns and mandates but some weren’t, some thought it was OK to force a medical decision on them for very personal choices, but let me be clear: the Keystone party is not OK with dictating those choices for Manitobans,” Friesen said.

‘We do not want to grow this with a grassroot that is only a quack grass or only a brome grass. We need all of different people from Manitoba.’ – Kevin Friesen

Later, he insisted the party is not singularly focused on pandemic-related grievances.

“People are going to say this party started because of COVID restrictions,” Friesen said. “It just isn’t what happened. The movement started before.”

Asked whether he is concerned about extremist elements latching on and turning potential voters off, Friesen said he expects to receive support from a wide cross-section of Manitobans — and people with fringe beliefs will not see themselves reflected in party principles.

People who have never voted and disaffected New Democratic, Liberal and Progressive Conservative supporters would all be comfortable in the Keystone party, he argued.

“We do not want to grow this with a grassroot that is only a quack grass or only a brome grass. We need all of different people from Manitoba.”

Lockport resident Patricia Paradoski said she has voted for the PCs in the past but will be putting her support behind Keystone.

“They’re not representative of the average Canadian,” she said of the Tories and other establishment parties. “Especially with these COVID vaccinations: totally against human rights, totally against the constitution and they just don’t seem to care.”

Premier Heather Stefanson expressed no concern over the possible threat to her vote share Friday.

“I have no control over what they do as individuals,” the Tory leader told reporters. “They have every right to do what they want to do, and that’s what’s so great about our country, is that people have the right to set up those parties.”

She said her focus remains on tackling the surgical and diagnostic procedure backlog and growing the economy.

Friesen wants to see a full slate of candidates run in the next election, which must be held on or before Oct. 3, 2023, and hopes to gain official party status (four seats) in the legislative assembly. The party started accepting memberships Friday morning.

The Turtle Mountain resident said he will run in that electoral division, if the local association determines he’s the right person for the job.

“If they can find someone better than me, I’m more than willing to step down and let that man or woman take over that constituency,” he said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca