The three candidates running for the NDP leadership are trying to tell NDP members and Manitobans more generally that they are looking to renew their Party. This may be a tough sell when you consider that the three candidates combined have been elected to the Manitoba Legislature for more than 60 years.

It’s not any easier to sell when you listen to the candidates talk about what they will do if they win the leadership of the party and become Premier on March 8th. Each has promised to keep on spending uncontrollably and none have committed to balancing the provincial budget anytime soon.

When it comes to important issues such as the hydro transmission line Bi-Pole III which has turned into a billion dollar boondoggle because the NDP are forcing Manitoba Hydro to build it on the longest route imaginable, none of the NDP leadership candidates seem eager to hit the refresh button. When the Bi-Pole III line was first directed to go on the west side of Lake Winnipeg by the NDP instead of the shorter eastern route, the cost was estimated at $1.1 billion. Today the cost estimate stands at $4.6 billion.

In fact, none of the NDP leadership candidates seem to want to talk about this poor decision that is going to cost Manitobans for years to come and result in us paying more for our hydro every year for the next two decades. Instead, the NDP candidates are talking about expanding government, holding NDP conferences, hoping Ottawa sends us more money and renewing promises they have failed to fulfill during the past 15 years. And they are doing it all on the credit card of the taxpayers of Manitoba.

If the NDP candidates are serious about hitting the refresh button, they need to start talking about the poor decisions they have made in the past, like the routing of Bi-Pole III. But it’s unlikely they will be going far down that road, because the NDP leadership contest is simply about power, not about offering renewal or doing what is right for Manitoba.

Thank You!

Two longtime Members of Parliament, Rod Bruinooge, the MP for Winnipeg South and Joy Smith, the MP for Kildonan- St. Paul have announced recently that they will not be seeking re-election in this year’s federal election. I’ve had the opportunity to work with both Mr. Bruinooge and Mrs. Smith and they are dedicated Parliamentarians.

Mr. Bruinooge, who is of Metis descent, worked on a number of important issues during his time as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Mrs. Smith is best known for bringing to national discussion the issue of human trafficking in Canada.

Thank you Rod and Joy for your service and dedication to Canada.