COLUMN: Think Again – Wab Kinew’s first major misstep

Ever since his election win, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has enjoyed an extended political honeymoon. Not only does the NDP have a commanding lead in the polls, but Kinew himself is the most popular premier in the country.

Much of this stems from Kinew’s folksy manner and populist instincts. It’s hard to dislike someone who speaks the language of ordinary people and who implements broadly popular policies (such as the provincial gas tax cut). Kinew obviously learned much from former NDP Premier Gary Doer, who during his time in office stuck as close to the political centre as possible.

However, Kinew torpedoed his reputation last week when he kicked Mark Wasyliw out of the NDP caucus. Instead of being upfront about the fact that he obviously doesn’t like Wasyliw and won’t tolerate dissent in his caucus, Kinew chose instead to claim that he kicked Wasyliw out because of his association with convicted sex offender Peter Nygard.

Except the only connection between Wasyliw and Nygard is the fact that Gerri Wiebe, one of the lawyers at Wasyliw’s law firm, is currently serving as Nygard’s defence counsel. Not only is there nothing wrong with a lawyer vigorously defending her client, defence lawyers play an essential role in our legal system.

Kinew, of all people, should recognize this fact since he himself benefited from the help of legal counsel after his past run-ins with the law. Being a lawyer for someone charged with a crime doesn’t mean you condone that crime, no matter how serious it might be. Rather, defence lawyers ensure that the legal rights of their clients are respected throughout the process.

Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of pushback against Kinew’s decision. The Manitoba Bar Association and the Criminal Defence Lawyer Association of Manitoba both issued statements condemning Wasyliw’s expulsion. As they pointed out, it is unconscionable that a provincial premier would lack such a basic understanding of how our legal system works.

Unfortunately, rather than apologize when confronted about his smear of the legal community, Kinew chose instead to double down. “You can be affiliated with the NDP or you can be affiliated with Peter Nygard, but you can’t do both,” explained Kinew.

When pressed further, Kinew claimed that there were other reasons behind Wasyliw’s expulsion. He argued that Wasyliw wasn’t a team player, was abusive to staff, and put the interests of his law practice ahead of his duties as an MLA.

Now any one of these reasons, if true, would be sufficient cause to kick any MLA out of caucus. It begs the question of why the NDP tried instead to give Wasyliw’s so-called association with Peter Nygard as the official reason behind their decision.

In his comments to the media, Kinew claimed that he wasn’t the driving force behind Wasyliw’s expulsion and that he simply left the decision up to his caucus. Now if you actually believe Kinew is telling the truth, then I’ve got some oceanfront property in Saskatchewan to sell to you.

It’s obvious that Kinew personally orchestrated Wasyliw’s expulsion. Kinew’s populist instincts told him that widespread disdain for Peter Nygard would cause people to overlook the obvious cynicism behind Wasyliw’s expulsion from caucus. He was wrong.

That’s because Manitobans aren’t as stupid as Kinew thinks they are. Kinew might be a gifted politician, but even he has a blind spot. Like many politicians, Kinew overestimated his connection with ordinary people. Kinew also failed to anticipate the amount of dirty laundry that Wasyliw was prepared to air about him.

Expelling Mark Wasyliw from caucus was Wab Kinew’s first major misstep. It probably won’t be his last.

Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.