'I've got your back': Manitoba premier-designate Wab Kinew offers support to strikers
'This is the most difficult thing that I've ever done in my life,' Kinew says day after election victory
Manitoba's premier-designate Wab Kinew thanked the public for its trust, thanked the leaders of his rival parties and then committed support to striking MPI workers and health-care workers.
"Everything we do in health care has to start with the people," he said, standing at the foot of the Manitoba Legislative Building's grand staircase on Wednesday, less than a full day after his party stormed to a majority victory in the province's general election.
To the 1,700 Manitoba Public Insurance workers, who have been striking since Aug. 28, Kinew said, "I've got your back."
"One thing I've been very clear about, including during the televised debate, is that for the PCs to stand in the way of these hard-working Manitobans getting a fair deal is just wrong. We are on the side of workers," he said.
Kinew wants to avoid interfering in labour negotiations as he says the Progressive Conservatives have multiple times, but he also wants the unions to know he is an ally.
"I hope the strike is resolved and people get a fair deal."
WATCH | Premier-designate Wab Kinew talks about his new role and the task at hand:
As for fixing the broken health-care system, Kinew reached out to those working on the front lines, saying "we need you" and promising to improve working conditions and the culture in those health facilities, where low morale has made headlines for years.
"It has to start with staffing up our health-care system. We need you working at the front lines so that we can build new emergency rooms to serve the people of this province," he said.
"We need you at the front lines so we can stand up a new cancer care facility to give the best quality treatment. We need you so that we can build the future of health care."
Moving on a landfill search is another priority, he added.
The first step is for his party to be sworn in as the new government, then a search will be something the NDP will "tackle in the very early days of our administration," Kinew said.
Just how large of a majority Kinew's party won is still being calculated.
As of Wednesday morning, the NDP had won 30 seats — 29 of the 57 seats in the legislative assembly are required for a majority. The PCs had 19 seats to become the Official Opposition and the Liberals had one.
Another seven ridings remain too close to call with out-of-district advance votes still trickling in. The NDP lead in four of those and the PCs in three.
Kinew thanked outgoing Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont and outgoing PC Leader Heather Stefanson for their service to the province. Both leaders announced, following the results Tuesday night, that they are stepping down.
Lamont lost his seat while Stefanson's is still undecided. As of Wednesday morning, she held a 259-vote lead over the NDP's Larissa Ashdown with some polls still trickling in.
"Leading a team and serving Manitobans takes heart. This is a job in which we give it our all, and I know that each of you have done the same," Kinew said.
WATCH | Kinew talks about how Manitobans voted for a positive vision of the future:
Asked about the role he holds as the first First Nations premier of a Canadian province, Kinew said he is following in the footsteps of educators, residential school survivors and others who have changed Canada for the better during the past decade.
And he hopes others will continue that after him.
"I am extraordinarily hopeful for what this country is going to be like when the children of today, who celebrate Orange Shirt Day, who learn a more accurate account of our country's history — what Manitoba and Canada is going to be like — when they are the decision makers," he said.
"It's my intention to move the ball forward so that that future generation can do even more powerful things than we can imagine today."
Kinew, who lived on the Onigaming First Nation in northwestern Ontario, said during his campaign that he's not out to make history for his ethnicity. He repeated on Wednesday that being a First Nations person does not add more load to the role.
"I've been asked to serve as premier. I don't know how much more weight you could put on somebody. This is the most difficult thing that I've ever done in my life and the real work hasn't even begun yet," he said.
As for the campaign, Kinew said his family had the toughest job, because "they had to put up with the attack ads [from the PCs] without the ability to respond.
"We knew the PCs were going to go negative in this campaign. I don't think any of us expected the very dark turn that their ads ended up taking," he said.
"What I was able to tell them last night is that the people of Manitoba chose to reject that. And the people of Manitoba are consequently good people."
Kinew said his party will "work hard, every single day, to repay the debt of gratitude that we feel for this opportunity."
"This is just the beginning. There's going to be plenty of news to share in the coming weeks, but for now I just want to reiterate our extraordinary humility … at this awesome responsibility that we have been asked to serve."
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