Manitoba's NDP government makes flurry of announcements before blackout period starts
Caroline Barghout | CBC News | Posted: January 19, 2016 9:47 PM | Last Updated: January 20, 2016
Manitoba is a day away from being in provincial election mode and time is running out for the Manitoba government to make any new spending commitments as the provincial election nears.
The Election Financing Act forbids government advertising 90 days before a provincial election. That blackout period officially begins in Manitoba January 20.
In the days leading up to it, the media has been inundated with a fury of press releases and invitations to dozens and dozens of announcements.
On Monday alone, the province announced 17 new projects and committed $28 million dollars.
Since Jan.1, Manitoba's NDP has made 110 announcements, some of which require a financial investment from the federal government before they can even get off the ground.
'Somebody has to start the ball rolling'
But Premier Greg Selinger rejected the suggestion the announcements were made prematurely.
"By us coming in and making a commitment to it, it makes it easier for other levels of government to support it as well, because they know they're not alone. Somebody has to start the ball rolling," Selinger said.
Selinger maintains the province isn't spending more than it can afford and said many of the projects involve "leveraging dollars."
"Every one of these things is not just a last-minute project. These have been in the works for many years," said Selinger. "This is the right time for shovel-ready projects which will build good jobs right now and good assets for families and for the community in the future."
Political analyst and author Christopher Adams said it's not uncommon for governments to squeeze out as many announcements as they can before the start of a blackout period.
"That is the election cycle. That's part of the four-to-five year terms of a government that just naturally occurs, that you plan on good things happening just before going to the polls," said Adams.
The same thing happened with the Harper government in the weeks leading up to the federal election blackout period, Adams added, but it didn't help the Conservatives, who still lost to the Liberals.
Adams cautioned if the provincial NDP is voted out of power, some of the new projects they've promised won't see the light of day.
"If there's a change in government the new premier will have to sift through a number of these and see whether they fit within his or her priorities, " said Adams.
According to Elections Manitoba, in an election year each registered political party is allowed to spend a maximum of $268,000 on party advertising - excluding the writ period.
The writ will be dropped between March 15 and 22, marking the "official" start of the election campaign.
Manitobans head to the polls April 19.