MLA blasts Kinew for exclusion from event

Swan River MLA Rick Wowchuk is blasting Manitoba’s premier after he was barred from speaking at an event in his riding on the weekend.

In a post on Facebook Sunday, the Progressive Conservative MLA said “it’s childish, it’s pathetic and it’s unbecoming” that Wab Kinew prevented him from speaking at the grand opening of a new cultural arts centre, multi-purpose room and outdoor teaching area in Swan River.

Wowchuk was scheduled to speak at Saturday’s event at Swan Valley Regional Secondary School, but heard Friday from the school division’s board chair — Wowchuk’s brother, Gary — that the premier’s chief of staff told him the MLA “was not to speak,” Wowchuk said in an interview Monday.

“Rather than being somebody who is going to say, ‘Hey, let’s work together and let’s celebrate these great events together,’ (Kinew) decided … ‘we’re not going to let the MLA from Swan River speak, because I just want to be the centre of attraction for this event,’” Wowchuk said.

Wowchuk, an alumnus and longtime teacher at the school, highlighted that the new centre will focus on inclusiveness.

“I’ve always ranted and raved about that school. It’s a great facility, there’s a lot of great things that happen,” he said. “So I really wanted to be a part of this celebration of the opening.

“We had an opportunity to bring this province together, and the premier of Manitoba decides, ‘No, we’re going to continue to divide this province,’” Wowchuk added. “He talks about One Manitoba. I’m sorry, when you take actions like this, this is not One Manitoba.”

Wowchuk said Kinew is “too arrogant” and is a “bully” for barring him from speaking at the grand opening.

Kinew fired back at Wowchuk on Monday, saying the rural backbencher was “not a good guy.”

“Does anyone care about some backbench PC MLA right now?” Kinew said of Wowchuk, who was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 2016.

The premier dismissed Wowchuk’s accusations of bullying.

“His feelings are hurt. Who cares?” Kinew said, suggesting the situation was tit-for-tat.

“We were never invited to any announcements when we were on the opposition benches,” Kinew said.

The grand opening in Swan River was organized by the school division with $16.6 million from the province, the premier said.

“It’s your money. It’s not the PCs’ and it’s not mine,” said Kinew, who noted the building was completed during the NDP government’s time in office. He said he’s focused on cost of living issues.

“The PCs can keep crying from the sideline,” Kinew said, before launching another salvo.

“This MLA is not a good guy and if he wants to debate that, I would just say to everybody out there, do not Google this guy’s name. You’re not going to like what you see,” said the premier, whose run-ins with the law more than 20 years ago were dredged up as recently as Nov. 27 by PC leader Obby Khan during question period.

Ten years ago, Wowchuk showed a female constituency staffer a photo of a naked woman. He issued a statement apologizing for his actions and said he’d undergone workplace sensitivity training, which he found “extremely valuable.”

Wowchuk said Monday that Kinew always takes the low road.

“The personal attacks and stuff like that, that I see in the legislature on a daily basis, really have to stop because it doesn’t do anything for anybody. The public thinks it’s very childish but he continues, and that’s who he is,” the MLA said.

On Saturday, Kinew congratulated the school division and community on opening the facility.

“I’m energized to see how well these new spaces represent the school and community and how they will serve as a hub for cultural and creative expression,” he said in a news release.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said the added spaces enable students and the community to learn together.

“An arts education opens doors for students to share their voices and helps students understand each other and celebrate the cultures that make Manitoba unique,” Schmidt said in the release.

The province said the space was developed with consultation from the Indigenous community and incorporated learning and cultural practices.

Wowchuk said he and former PC education minister Wayne Ewasko advocated for the centre and worked to get the project passed by the government.

“We saw it as an opportunity for reconciliation of all ethnic groups,” he said.

Wowchuk said the new centre means “a lot of good things,” especially as the region is diverse.

“They want to be able to identify who they are. They want to be able to share their culture, like all other ethnic groups within the Swan River Valley, because it’s very diverse, and this is what we need,” he said.

The MLA’s absence from the speakers list on Saturday was noticed, Swan River’s mayor said.

“We’re a small community and I think a lot of people feel like credit should be given where credit is due,” said Mayor Lance Jacobson, noting Wowchuk played a role in getting the facility built.

“There’s a lot of people wondering why he didn’t speak. The MLA was one of the very first graduates from that school and he also was an educator there, so he’s well known (in education circles) here in the valley. Some might have been somewhat choked about it,” Jacobson said.

» alambert@brandonsun.com