Manitoba premier says he plans to give opponents a heads-up before any election

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has eased speculation of an imminent election by saying he plans to give his opponents a heads-up before calling voters to the polls.

The Progressive Conservative premier has hinted for months that he may call an election before the currently scheduled date of Oct. 6, 2020. Following separate meetings with NDP Leader Wab Kinew and Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont on Monday, Pallister said he would give them a 90-day notice of an election "if possible."

He did not say what might make giving notice impossible.

"I ... assured Mr. Kinew and Mr. Lamont that I have no intentions of snapping an election call to take advantage of their preparedness or their level of preparedness," Pallister said.

Governments shouldn't surprise: Premier

"It would be my view that governments shouldn't try to get advantage by surprising somebody. That's not my intention."

A 90-day warning would essentially give the other parties two months to prepare for the start of an election campaign, since campaigns cannot be longer than 34 days under provincial law.

Pallister's Tories have already given signs they are gearing up for a vote. They have nominated candidates for more than half of the province's 57 constituencies in recent weeks.

The Tories have also fulfilled their two main pocketbook promises from the 2016 election in last month's budget: shaving one point off the provincial sales tax and reducing ambulance fees. The budget has yet to be passed into law.

The Tories are also in good shape financially. They were elected in 2016 with the biggest majority in Manitoba in a century, and have been raising exponentially more money than the NDP and the Liberals, who took more than a year to pay off their campaign debts.

Since being elected, the Tories have raised political contribution limits and loosened limits on partisan political advertising.

Lamont said he thinks a visit to the ballot box is near, even if Pallister told him that he won't "spring an election on us."

"He said quite specifically it won't be till the flood watch is not just over, but well and clear and done," he said.

Pallister tried to stress areas where the political parties could work together, such as flood preparations and the Kindergarten-to-Grade 12 review, Lamont said.

The Liberal leader says the premier was trying to cast himself as co-operative by organizing the meeting. 

"I think the premier is getting to be known as somebody who is often in conflict with other people," Lamont said, "so I think he wants to make the effort to show that he can reach across to other parties.

"Again," he added, "whether that will succeed, that's another question."

Kinew wasn't convinced that Pallister's plan of a 90-day window was enough to pour cold water on the idea of a spring election. 

He believes Pallister will call a vote much earlier than scheduled, but the exact timing remains to be seen.

"As for when the election is actually going to be called, I think there's only one person in this building right now who knows the answer to that, and sadly, that's not me."