Balcaen, Jackson discuss critic roles

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This article was published 27/10/2023 (945 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All three of Brandon’s MLAs are rookies, but that hasn’t stopped their parties’ leaders from giving them important roles in the legislature.

Last week, Brandon East NDP MLA Glen Simard was made minister of sport, culture, heritage and tourism as well as the minister responsible for Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries and francophone affairs.

This week, his Progressive Conservative colleagues across the aisle, Brandon West MLA Wayne Balcaen and Spruce Woods MLA Grant Jackson, were respectively made shadow ministers for justice and Manitoba Hydro.

Speaking to the Sun on Thursday, Balcaen said that justice is within his wheelhouse as the former chief of Brandon Police Service.

“I feel very well rounded in the area not only in policing and law enforcement, but I have lots of contacts and experience in the court system, in corrections, sheriffs, Crown attorneys, working with defence lawyers, restorative justice and probations,” Balcaen said.

Beyond just holding the new NDP government to account, Balcaen said he has a few priorities in the justice file.

Toward the end of the election campaign, his party promised to extend Winnipeg’s Downtown Community Safety Partnership to Brandon, and Balcaen said he’d like to see the government pick up on that.

On top of that, he’s keeping an eye on the sobering centre destined for Brandon’s North Hill, which his party announced funding for before the pre-election communications blackout.

“The other thing that I’m going to keep (the government) on their toes about is their offer to be tough on crime because I’ve never seen that from the NDP before,” Balcaen said. “Making sure that we continue our funding for police services, for justice initiatives.”

For Jackson, who was also named the shadow minister for the Public Utilities Board and deputy house leader for the Tories, the appointments were a surprise, but he said he’s up for the challenge.

“Manitoba Hydro is a big entity, and it’s very important to the economic success of this province as well as to every constituent, every ratepayer,” he said. “My job is to make sure that it’s delivering as best it can and then we hold the government to account on its policy.”

The role of the deputy house leader, he said, is to work with the house leader — Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson — in keeping their party’s legislative agenda moving forward and negotiate an agenda with the government’s house leader.

Though they lack a majority in the legislature, the Tories still have tools at their disposal, including the ability to hold over five bills from one legislative session to another. That’s something the NDP took full advantage of when they were the opposition for the previous seven and a half years.

Some of Jackson’s other priorities for Spruce Woods, which includes the North Hill and several of the rural communities surrounding Brandon, are to work on the condition of highways, recruiting health-care staff, and toward the betterment of Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College.

Since the election, Simard, Jackson, Balcaen and Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett have met to discuss how they can work together to benefit the city despite the MLAs belonging to different parties.

Balcaen said that they’ll see what they can accomplish collaboratively, without forgetting that their roles in opposition are to hold the government to account.

The Conservatives also promised to provide $5 million in funding toward renovations at the Brandon Sportsplex during the election campaign, and Jackson said he’s going to talk to Simard about having the NDP support something similar.

Both men are still working toward getting constituency offices established after the election as well as government phone numbers.

Balcaen can be reached in the meantime by emailing contact@waynebalcaen.ca and Jackson by emailing votegrantjackson@gmail.com. Jackson added that he can also be reached if constituents call the party’s caucus line at 204-945-3709 and leave a message for him.

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