Below is editorial column written today by the Brandon Sun. I think that Brian should continue to speak his mind as it is important that all Manitobans should get to hear what Brian has to say on many issues so that Manitobans can judge for themselves where Mr. Pallister stands on issues before the next provincial election. Hey Pally, please shut up! By: James OConnor Brandon Sun managing editor If only Progressive Conservative Opposition Leader Brian Pallister would zip it for a while, he could sew up the next provincial election. But the mighty mouth insists on roaring, and as a result has managed to infuriate politically active women, unnecessarily insult the ruling NDP party with a ridiculous press release and generally make a jackass out of himself. Dude, the NDP are dropping like stones — just stand to the side, smile politely and act like you’re the premier-in-waiting. But for goodness sakes, stop the mindless, mind-numbing media events, press releases and statements that could very easily see you remain in opposition after the expected 2016 provincial election — losing to a long-in-the tooth, generally despised set of socialists who have been dragging their behinds around the Manitoba legislature for the past couple of years now. Heck, they made former TV news cutie Erin Selby the freaking health minister! Health care to her is getting that darned cuticle trimmed during a great manicure! And the New Dems leader, Greg Selinger, is holding onto his office with a death grip so tight he’s ignoring the fact he’s one of the least liked premiers in Canada. This is the Tories’ election to lose. And their leader is doing his very best to do just that. The NDP loves him. He’s their best asset. Pallister’s own people — including some MLAs — are privately wondering what is wrong with him. He doesn’t listen to his caucus. He doesn’t listen to his staff. And while I was previously blaming his communications people for his many gaffes and odd media encounters — we all recall his infidel atheists remark to a well-known gotcha blogger before the holidays — apparently he doesn’t take their advice either. Pallister blithely alienated a potentially large number of women voters with his unfettered zeal to get a minor gotcha over the NDP. The Tories say an event at the legislative building to commemorate Nellie McClung, organized by the Manitoba Women’s Advisory Councils, is in violation of Manitoba’s Election Financing Act. It is, they claim, a political event on the same day as two provincial byelections. You see, the law restricts government advertising for general elections and byelections in the last 90 days before election day and on election day — with certain exceptions. But the governing NDP states the McClung event was organized before the byelections in Morris and Arthur-Virden. It’s also clearly, to my mind, a public, non-partisan event marking the anniversary of women’s suffrage in Manitoba. And what do the Tories stand to gain from making a complaint over this event? Nothing. But it’s as if there is no thought or analysis being done over the Tories’ actions. Which, given the fact Pallister does have staff and caucus to advise him, leads me to believe he is personally making these decisions. Then there was a letter to the editor — which this paper didn’t run — in which Pallister asked people to imagine a scenario in which an NDP MLA jumped to the front of the line to get preferential medical treatment for their mother. It was an awkward, ill-conceived scenario designed to draw some kind of comparison to when former cabinet minister Christine Melnick’s use of non-partisan government bureaucrats to invite immigrants and immigration groups to a legislative debate almost two years ago. But all the letter did was permit the NDP to declare it to be an attack on the integrity of government MLAs and health-care workers. Some felt it was clumsily done and I’m sorry they felt that way, Pallister told the Winnipeg Free Press. The reality is I only have the ability to raise questions and I asked the question, ‘How would you feel if that happened to you?’ It was clearly hypothetical, an imaginary situation. So clearly I wasn’t making an assertion or condemning anybody. Clumsily done indeed, Brian. Then just this week, Pallister turned a very good thing into a PR blooper. In his zeal to take advantage of the rule barring the NDP government from advertising or making spending announcements during the byelection period, Pallister used the PC Caucus staff to publicize his very generous donation to Brandon University — his alma mater — to set up a scholarship for female athletes. So on one hand, Pallister is complaining about the NDP’s involvement in the Nellie McClung commemoration, but he makes his own media splash in Westman, where the Arthur-Virden byelection is being held. Pallister is starting to look like a clown in a nice suit. He definitely isn’t a premier-in-waiting at the moment. He has to start listening to his staff as he is politically tone deaf. And even though the provincial election is not until 2016, Pallister has a lot of work to do on his image. The best thing for him to do for a while would be to shut up and listen.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 17:06:50 +0000
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