Bruske: Manitobans choose the NDP’s positive change over Conservative intolerance
WINNIPEG—Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske released the following statement in reaction to the Manitoba election results.
“Congratulations to premier-elect Wab Kinew and the Manitoba NDP for their stunning historic victory last night. Wab and the NDP offered the positive change Manitobans were looking for—better health care, lower costs, and good jobs.”
“Manitoba voters also showed that using hate and divisiveness to drive your campaign is a losing proposition. In the privacy of the ballot box Manitobans expressed their best nature yesterday, not their worst selves as the Manitoba PCs had urged them to do.”
“It was reprehensible to see Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives end their campaign by trying to exploit racism against Indigenous people and anti-2SLGBTQI+ sentiment for electoral gain. It was very heartening to see Manitobans soundly reject these messages of intolerance.”
“I was also proud to see how working people stood up against the PC’s record of imposing wage restraint laws on health workers and attacking workers’ rights. Health care workers, provincial and municipal workers, members of private and public unions, and so many others mobilized in large numbers to knock on doors and talk with their neighbours about what was at stake in this election.”
“Workers came out because they knew Stefanson’s Conservatives couldn’t claim to care about how expensive life has gotten for people after they refused to pay workers a fair wage and even attacked the very unions that represent them. The PCs may have thought their anti-union rhetoric could be a winning argument as the campaign started against a backdrop of strikes at Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries and Manitoba Public Insurance. But at the end of the day, Conservatives just drew more attention to their uncaring incompetence.”
“Stefanson and the Conservatives’ defeat should serve as a clear warning to politicians across the country thinking about trying to win government through negative attacks and messages of intolerance. Appealing to extremism and intolerance may help get your base out to volunteer and donate, but Manitoban voters showed the whole country yesterday it’s a failing strategy for winning elections.”
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