Not an easy choice for Spruce Woods voters

What is the role of a member of the legislative assembly here in Manitoba?

If you ask voters in Spruce Woods that question, you’d probably get various answers, but perhaps the most likely would be that an MLA is supposed to represent those people who elected them to office, and to fight for their interests.

We expect our elected officials to understand what is important to the majority of residents who live in the region, and to have a grasp of the issues that affect our everyday lives.

We want them to be savvy when it comes to issues like health care and education. And even if they’re not engineers or doctors or even teachers, we expect them to try to understand what the big issues are. We also expect them to share our values, at least to some extent.

And those are just the expectations. The reality on the ground is so much more.

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba website states that the role of a legislator involves understanding the spirit of existing laws, planning new laws and “studying, discussing and then supporting or opposing the enactment of new laws.”

They’re supposed to act as problem solvers, taking concerns of residents who come to them, and bringing them forward to find some kind of resolution.

And they also have duties as a member of an elected party caucus, which means they have partisan obligations as well to support caucus decisions.

And all of that comes before serving as either a potential cabinet minister or opposition critic.

To be quite frank, it’s a lot to ask, and not everyone is up for the job.

This is why it’s so important for voters to have a solid understanding of the views and experiences that candidates bring to the table — and why debates like the one hosted at the Sprucewoods Community Hall on Wednesday night are so important. At their best, such debates are unscripted, unrehearsed and unashamed to ask pointed, difficult questions, all with the stated aim of helping voters make up their minds on who is the best choice to represent them as an MLA.

And while we accomplished the main objective — giving voters a better understanding of their candidates — the results of Wednesday night’s debate may have made the decision more difficult for voters in Spruce Woods.

For the last several weeks, Wab Kinew has been actively canvassing communities in Spruce Woods together with candidate Ray Berthelette. The premier has made it very clear that he intends to win this byelection, and has put his reputation behind Berthelette’s campaign in order to do so, going so far as to put his own face on many of the campaign signs that appear on the roads and highways across the riding.

Of course, the issue naturally came up during Wednesday’s debate, when it was asked who would represent Spruce Woods if the NDP wins the byelection — Berthelette or Kinew. That prompted Berthelette to say that “it’s obvious, it’s Team Wab. Wab is one of the best promoters of rural Manitoba that we have.”

Berthelette’s answer seems to suggest that he would not be the representative on his own, which is deceptive — and somewhat silly — because it’s his name on the ballot. It hearkens back to an exchange that Kinew had with a Brandon Sun reporter some weeks ago, before the byelection was announced.

At the time, the reporter — who also resides in Spruce Woods — had asked when the byelection would be called because the region lacked a proper representative. Kinew’s answer was flippant:

“Well I’m your premier,” Kinew said. “What would you like me to do?”

Make no mistake, it won’t be Kinew who will have to do the constituency work — that’s all on Berthelette should he win the byelection.

Berthelette also struggled to defend his government’s lack of progress on health care in the region, saying that only two years in office was not enough time to fix the problems created by the former PC government.

Berthelette wasn’t the only candidate who found themselves mired in the weeds Wednesday night. Progressive Conservative candidate Colleen Robbins struggled on the hot seat as she attempted to walk back comments that she made years earlier on social media regarding unions and residential schools.

She also stated that parents should have more of a role compared to teachers when it comes to gender education out of a stated concern that gender-affirming surgery is being performed on minors in this province — only to again walk back her statement and apologize for saying something without fully understanding the subject.

For a candidate looking to lead Spruce Woods, claiming ignorance of these kinds of social issues seems disingenuous, and her answers lacked conviction.

Both of these candidates represent the two major political parties in our province, and both had difficulty proving that they are MLA material.

And Liberal Stephen Reid, the third candidate? While clearly well spoken and thoughtful, he represents a party that is nearly dead in this province, and one that in the last provincial election came dead last in vote count.

He obviously knew that going into the byelection, and we have to wonder at the political choice he has made — the same one that he is now asking voters to make.

Spruce Woods is now left with the difficult choice of voting for the person who best represents their interests.

From our vantage point, that choice is as clear as mud.