NDP enters annual convention seeking to stay on message By: Carol Sanders Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022 Last Modified: 8:38 PM CDT Friday, Oct. 14, 2022 Updates

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With a provincial election less than a year away and a healthy lead in the polls, Manitoba New Democrats are holding their annual convention in Winnipeg this weekend to debate policy resolutions and “lay the course for winning government in the next election.”

That is the message for hundreds of party members gathering Friday through Sunday at the RBC Convention Centre.

“In this time of global uncertainty and poor political leadership, our message of economic and social justice is more relevant than ever,” the NDP said on its webpage promoting the event.

On Thursday, provincial party president Lonnie Patterson said voters are ready for a change.

“Manitobans want an alternative to Brian Pallister and Heather Stefanson’s tired PC government, whose failed education reform in Bill 64 and health-care cuts have hurt Manitoba families,” Patterson said in an email.

The party will likely temper its optimism from successive polls indicating an NDP win in 2023 with calls to work hard and stay on message, veteran political affairs analyst Christopher Adams said.

“I would expect that they would try to curb their enthusiasm at this convention,” said the University of Manitoba political studies professor. “I wouldn’t think that they would want to look as if they’re measuring the curtains for a possible takeover (of) the government.”

Adams expects the message to the party faithful will be “it’s time to rally the troops” for a big election next year, and that they’re going to have to work hard to be successful.

“I would suspect that (Opposition Leader Wab) Kinew will hope that his caucus will be on message and not be talking about certain issues that might look poorly for the NDP in the coming coming year,” he said.

“Sometimes there’s a difference between what the caucus would like to see discussed on the floor and what the membership would like to see discussed on the floor.”

The party now avoids such situations by holding pre-convention resolution panels ahead of the convention to prioritize the resolutions that will make it onto the floor for debate.

Dozens of such resolutions are up for debate, ranging from doubling the current budget for adult learning and literacy programming to providing free insulin pumps and glucose monitors to all insulin-dependent diabetics to reforming rent control and providing trauma-informed support to candidates and campaign workers before and after the next election.

The convention is a time for debate and planning, and to introduce a growing team of candidates Patterson said.

“The Manitoba NDP has candidates nominated in over half the constituencies in our province and we are building off our record fundraising efforts last year,” she said.

The party raised $1.13 million in 2021, the largest amount in a decade outside of a general election year. In 2016, it raised $1.15 million. In 2019, it took in $1.26 million, according to Elections Manitoba.

The NDP may need a war chest sooner than expected, Adams said.

Although 2023 is an election year in Manitoba, with one due on or by Oct. 3, it could be called anytime — and the NDP are likely thinking about being in campaign-ready mode, he noted.

“There’s nothing to stop the premier from calling a spring election, and some people think that that might happen depending on what the polls are saying and financial circumstances,” said Adams.

“It is quite possible that the government will pull the plug and have a spring budget and then call the election.”

There has been a flurry of announcements in recent months, such as raising the Manitoba minimum wage, that could buoy Tory polling numbers, said Adams.

“If they do see some sort of upward trend, that might be a sign that they are moving in the right direction, and then they put out a feel-good budget in March or April and make a big splash of it — then they could see themselves calling a provincial election rather than waiting.”

New Democrat convention-goers are looking forward to tips from an outside expert on how to defeat a Tory government: Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley is this weekend’s guest speaker.

“(Notley) will help show how a little Prairie NDP pragmatism can effectively replace Conservative governments,” Patterson said.

Notley was Alberta’s premier from 2015 to 2019 after leading the NDP to a majority victory, ending 44 years of rule by the Progressive Conservatives.

In 2019, the NDP lost the provincial election to the United Conservative Party led by Jason Kenney (who was replaced as premier this week).

Notley’s speech Saturday night is a chance to rally the troops in Manitoba, said Adams.

“She’s kind of an icon, so just her speaking is something significant for the party members,” the U of M professor said. “I think that she will have some pearls of wisdom as to the strategy (that won the 2015 vote)… and then what they plan to do going into the next Alberta election.”

Alberta goes to the polls on or before May 29.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.

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