The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Next Premier Thanks to Gary Doer's resignation for a better job, the "Big Three of the NDP" will face off in October for the big prize Ð the chance to be Manitoba premier. This will be the first time that an NDP leadership race will result in the winner getting the top job. Has it happened to the Progressive Conservatives? Absolutely. When Premier Duff Roblin resigned in the mid-60s to contest the federal leadership (won, as you will remember, by Robert Stanfield), there was a four-man cabinet minister race for the job Ð Stewart McLean, George Johnson, Sterling Lyon and Walter Weir. Lyon was the favourite and should have won, but he had too many enemies in the party and the race became an 'anyone but Lyon' affair. The least favourite candidate, Weir, a Minnedosa mortician, got the benefit of the vote switching. Jolly Wally, as he was affectionately known, took over as premier, foolishly called an early election and was beaten by the rising star Ed Schreyer. Don't think that the same could not happen this time, but an early call is unlikely due to Manitoba's fixed vote legislation. What about the Big Three? Greg Selinger, who has been finance minister throughout the Doer era, is the obvious favorite, especially with the large number of cabinet ministers and MLAs backing him Or is he? Selinger has a number of degrees and has worked as a social worker, organizer and professor, and is promoting himself as being in the real world with his knowledge of financial matters. This is good and bad, as Manitobans and their businesses are heavily taxed. Plus, the rent controls Selinger still favours have meant fewer rentals being built and a great shortage of reasonably priced accommodation, with housing prices, especially in Winnipeg, being out of sight price-wise for most modest-income workers. Selinger, who got elected to Winnipeg City Council in 1989, ran a bad campaign against Mayor Susan Thompson three years later, which has some questioning his judgment in election battles. One good point is that he graduated from St. James Collegiate (one of my old schools), but a negative, especially with the young voters, is that he is 58 years old and hardly charismatic. Nevertheless, politicos are predicting that the race is his to lose. What about Thompson's Steve Ashton? The 53-year-old father of MP Niki Ashton has been in the legislature since 1981, more than half his life, and is intergovernmental affairs minister Ð not exactly a major portfolio. He has only a few MLA supporters but is backed, strangely, by the Winnipeg Firefighters Association. Ashton calls himself an economist, but many pundits are saying he has never had a real job. Steve is a good speaker and with his many years as a committed New Democrat is well known in the party. The question is, do they want him as leader? My favourite candidate, and the one I know best, is 41-year-old Andrew Swan, who was born, raised and educated in St. James. I have known Andrew since he was five when he played on my soccer team. His family has always been NDP, even when it was not fashionable in right-leaning Silver Heights, as his dad was a trade unionist. Unlike PC leader Hugh McFadyen, one of his fellow students at Silver Heights Collegiate, Andrew was not a super athlete, but he was a massive supporter of school teams. At Silver Heights, where I was his principal for a time, Andrew would dress up in costumes and lead the cheering for our teams. He was/is also very smart scholastically, like Hugh, and had no problem becoming a lawyer. In one election, his girlfriend ran for the party, and Andrew valiantly canvassed with her, even knocking on my door and asking for support while knowing it would not happen and that she would not win. Without a St. James seat being available, Andrew contested and won the nomination in Minto, just east of Polo Park, a sure win for his party. Appointed to cabinet by Doer, he was competitiveness, training and trade minister, and has been a rising star in the Doer government. By far the youngest of the three candidates, he will surely appeal to the younger voter, as will his opponent, McFadyen. If Swan wins and becomes leader, the next election would be quite a contest! Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
