Departing MLAs are not ‘ship-jumpers’

Opinion

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This article was published 09/01/2023 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Over the past week, there has been a great deal of discussion in the Manitoba media about Progressive Conservative MLAs announcing they won’t be seeking re-election in the upcoming provincial election. A new announcement almost each day has created a perception that PC caucus members are running for the doors.

There have been news reports and opinion pieces describing the departing members as “rats leaving a sinking ship.” Others have suggested they are cowards fleeing an inevitable, humiliating defeat.

If the only information you considered were the poll numbers, which for more than a year have had the Tory government trailing the opposition New Democrats by huge margins, it would be easy to come to those conclusions.

It would be just as easy to take that perspective if you ignored the personal circumstances of each of those members, along with the voting history for each of their respective ridings. You also would have to believe being an MLA is a “dream job” nobody would ever willingly abandon.

If you make those assumptions and ignore other relevant information, you could easily criticize the retiring MLAs as ship-jumpers, but you would be wrong.

I worked for a number of years inside the legislative building. I know firsthand that for many MLAs, especially those who live outside of Winnipeg, the job and life of being an MLA is horrible.

The “leg” is a perpetually toxic environment that can harm your physical and mental health. Government backbenchers, and even some cabinet ministers, are often kept in the dark on government decisions, yet are expected to show up, vote, make speeches and be at the beck and call of the premier’s office.

The pressure to raise money and sell memberships is relentless. You spend far too much time on the road, often in dangerous conditions. You are away from your family and home community for far too many days, year after year. That’s hard on relationships, and a big reason why the divorce rate is so high for MLAs.

Some will argue the pay and benefits MLAs receive more than make up for all the hardships, but that’s not true, either. A backbench MLA makes less than many teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters and government staffers. Indeed, many Tory MLAs make less than they were making before being elected, or could otherwise be earning.

The benefits they receive — pension and health — are just a substitute for what they would likely be receiving if they weren’t MLAs.

Having said all of that, there is a reason for the steady trickle of announcements by retiring Tory MLAs. They were instructed in December to make up their minds by early January about whether they were running for re-election, or the decision would be made for them. The timeline imposed on them last month explains the rush of announcements this month.

As to the assertion these rural MLAs are retiring in order to avoid the humiliation of defeat in the next election, almost all of them would be re-elected by comfortable margins in their respective ridings. For the most part, they’ve won by huge margins in the past, they have the advantage of incumbency, and their ridings are among the safest Tory seats in the province.

Beyond that, and most importantly, the retiring MLAs have all served in the legislative assembly for multiple terms, and the majority are in their 60s or 70s. They’ve done their part and made their contributions. They’ve each reached a point in their lives when it’s time to focus on their health, their families and their futures.

Indeed, some have family members with serious health issues. Under those circumstances, nobody can credibly blame them for putting their priorities in the right order.

One of the sad realities of the toxic political atmosphere in which we currently live is that it distorts reality. It too often causes many to see the worst in people and situations, often undeservedly. This is one of those instances.

Instead of mocking long-serving MLAs who have earned a well-deserved retirement, we should simply thank them for their service and wish them and their families well in the future. We owe them that, at least.

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