Jackson, Budiwski spar over parental rights

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This article was published 21/09/2023 (926 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wednesday’s debate between the two Spruce Woods candidates became heated when a question was asked about the intent of the Progressive Conservatives’ promise to enhance “parental rights” in the Public Schools Act.

PC candidate Grant Jackson and Liberal candidate Michelle Budiwski, who are both vying for outgoing MLA Cliff Cullen’s seat, argued about whether the “parental rights” policy was really just a snitch line for teachers to out 2SLGBTQIA+ kids to their parents.

NDP candidate Melissa Ghidoni did not attend Wednesday night’s debate.

“This policy is a dog whistle to the extremists we saw marching on our city,” Budiwski said, referring to the “parental rights” protests in cities across the country on Wednesday.

Jackson said the policy was about parents having the right to be informed about the decisions that kids are making in the public school system.

“If parents want to know the gender identity or the sexual orientation of their children,” Budiwski said, “they should talk to their children.”

She said that not all homes are safe, and for many queer kids school may be one of the few safe spaces for them.

Jackson said that he didn’t see the policy as a snitch line for parents. “I think that the parents absolutely have the right to be informed,” he said.

Throughout the 75-minute evening debate, Budiwski drew on her experience as a mother of four children and acknowledged Liberal backlash by saying the Manitoba Liberals are not the same as the Trudeau federal Liberal government.

Jackson made reference to his door-knocking efforts to understand the rural and urban constituents in the Spruce Woods riding. The 26-year-old from Souris said that he would bring “younger, fresh” energy to the PC party.

One of the panelists, Brandon University political science professor Kelly Saunders, grilled Jackson on contradictions of his party’s platform on climate change. Saunders said that the PCs are against the federal carbon tax, taking a legal battle on it to the Supreme Court, yet have also made commitments to improving infrastructure that has been affected by climate change, like the flooding of the dams in Rivers and Wawanesa.

Jackson said that there are different opinions on the carbon tax and that Manitobans don’t feel like it is an effective way to reduce carbon emissions.

Budiwski responded that nobody likes paying taxes but that it is a waste of taxpayer money for the PCs to continue to fight a legal battle over the carbon tax instead of investing that money to help business and residential owners and landlords invest in retrofits and upgrades to help maintain their energy efficiency.

Jackson said that his party thinks that the carbon tax is unfair and that PCs will continue to fight Trudeau’s government on it.

The candidates also fielded questions on health care, with Jackson promising that the PCs would not make any permanent closures of emergency rooms and pointed at the NDP as the party that closes ERs. Budiwski said that a large amount of people leaving a profession means that the root issues need to be addressed.

“When you have a mass exodus of people leaving a profession or a location, that is not a money problem, that’s a leadership problem,” she said.

The candidates were also asked about COVID-19 lockdowns, in the context of both the PC and NDP leaders’ announcements earlier Wednesday that they will not lock down the province again.

Jackson admitted that the PCs nor any government handled the pandemic perfectly.

“Going forward, we have to try and learn from our mistakes,” he said.

Budiwski said that everyone should be concerned about the statements which signalled to her that both parties would ignore medical advice if a pandemic happened again.

“Obviously, we haven’t learned from our mistakes if both of them are saying that they will even refuse to listen to medical advice if it happens again,” Budiwski said.

The riding’s MLA, Progressive Conservative Cliff Cullen, announced late last year that he will not seek re-election. Cullen won the seat for the PCs in 2011, 2016 and 2019 elections.

The provincial election takes place Oct. 3, although advance voting begins this Saturday.

Throughout Sept. 23-30, Spruce Woods constituents can submit their ballots at locations in Brandon, Cornwallis, Rivers, Shilo, Kemnay, Oak Lake, Souris, Glenboro and Holland.

Visit electionsmanitoba.ca/en/voting/advancelocations for more details.

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