We knew the next premier of Manitoba would be a woman since the only 2 contenders for leadership of the Progressive Conservatives were women.
Heather Stefanson, the MLA from Tuxedo, narrowly edged former Conservative MP Shelly Glover 8,405 to 8,042. Stefanson had 51.1% of the vote, a margin of 363 votes.
Stefanson will be Manitoba's 24th premier. Cabinet minister Kelvin Goertzen has been the interim party leader and premier since Brian Pallister stepped down as premier and later MLA.
She has served as Deputy Premier; Minister of Families; Minister of Justice/Attorney General; and most recently as Minister of Health and Seniors Care.
Pallister had been under fire for his handling of COVID-19; Stefanson was health minister during the third wave in the spring when Manitoba sent patients out of the province. He also came under criticism for avoiding crises by hiding out in Costa Rica.
Manitoba had been scheduled for a 2020 election but Pallister called an election in 2019.
There were concerns of missing ballots since at least 1,200 party members hadn't received their mail-in ballots days before the vote. Leadership election committee chair George Orle said the party issued replacement ballots.
Dan Vandal essentially replaces Jim Carr as the lone Manitoba MP in the cabinet shuffle from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this week.
Vandal, the MP for the Saint Boniface-Saint Vital riding, is the Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister Responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, and Minister Responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
He previously served as the Minister of Northern Affairs as well as the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services.
Jim Carr previously served as the Special Representative for the Prairies, Minister of International Trade Diversification, and Minister of Natural Resources.
Carr, the current MP for Winnipeg South Centre, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (a blood cancer) in October 2019.
Stefanson will be the 14th woman to hold such a high office in the history of Canada. Being a female premier is still a big deal.
British Columbia and Alberta combined to have had 4 female premiers. Now 7 of the 10 provinces and all the territories have had female leaders. Canada has had a female prime minister in Kim Campbell.
As we have noted in the past, Canada had 5 female premiers from February 11, 2013 to January 24, 2014. By the end of April 2014, there were only 2 female premiers.
British Columbia Rita Johnston (Social Credit) April 2-November 5, 1991; Christy Clark (Liberal) March 14, 2011-July 18, 2017
Alberta Alison Redford (Progressive Conservative) October 7, 2011-March 23, 2014; Rachel Notley (NDP) May 24, 2015-April 30, 2019
The first Canada leaders debate on Thursday in Montréal was spirited. A few minor jabs but nothing that will register huge headlines. Most debates should be more about the exchange of ideas than "gotcha" moments.
Erin O'Toole (Conservative) had a plan but couldn't or wouldn't talk about what that plan was. Justin Trudeau (Liberal) and Yves-Francois Blanchet (Bloc Quebecois) each tried to get O'Toole to talk about what was in the plan but O'Toole would not budge.
O'Toole stuck to lines about respecting Quebec and not wanting to put restrictions on money given to La Belle Province. Politicians have talking points but O'Toole played closer to the vest than other party leaders.
Blanchet acted like he lived upstairs from the TVA studio, as in we were in his maison. Trudeau was the second most comfortable: Blanchet represents the Beloeil-Chambly riding on the South Shore of Montréal; Trudeau represents the Papineau riding, east of downtown Montréal.
O'Toole talked about a contract with Quebec. Blanchet attacked the concept of the contract with O'Toole since there was no negotiation with anyone else.
If you wondered why the Bloc Quebecois did so well in 2019, watch Blanchet in French. He isn't running for prime minister so he was free to go past talking points. Blanchet got defensive talking about the Troisième Lien, a potential transportation tunnel running through Quebec City and Lévis. He said he never supported the project.
The debate brought up a couple of issues dear to Quebec but may not come up in the debates this week: medical assistance in dying and assault weapons. These are weak points for O'Toole as the Conservatives are on the wrong end of these issues in the province.
O'Toole said "we will maintain a ban on assault weapons," though the Conservative platform would "start by repealing C-71 and the May 2020 order in council and conducting a review of the Firearms Act." That "assault-style" firearms ban outlawed about 1,500 makes and models of "military-grade weapons."
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh pointed out that unlike Trudeau, who says he will deliver, the NDP will actually deliver. As hard as the Conservatives were pandering to Quebecers, the NDP is in a really bad situation in Quebec with 1 MP. Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie) is the only NDP MP representing a riding in Quebec. The Orange Wave of 2011 feels like a distant memory: 59 of the party's 103 seats were in Quebec.
The Conservatives only have 10 MPs, mostly in the Quebec City area. The TVA debate really was more for the Liberals (35) and Bloc Quebecois (32). The Liberals need to pull back a few seats from the Bloc Quebecois to get that majority.
O'Toole's French was better than Andrew Scheer, though both of them are above average for most anglophones. CPAC provided voices for the translation, giving O'Toole an audio dead ringer for Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. Porquoi? Je ne sais pas.
The TVA debate featured all of the major leaders except for Green Party leader Annamie Paul. The Greens don't have a MP from Quebec.
Pierre Bruneau ran another good debate. Bruneau let politicians battle but pulled in the reins once they made their point. He had a firm control on the debate. Paul Wells could learn a lot from Bruneau on running a debate but Wells' arrogance levels are rather high.
CPAC showed the debate on tape delay at 10 pm Eastern with English translations for Anglophones. CPAC aired the debate on its cable channel and at cpac.ca.
Travel budgets are rather extensive in a political campaign. The leaders go all across the country. There is still some travel in a pandemic.
The Conservatives have been trying a different strategy with Erin O'Toole. The party has been running virtual telephone town halls out of the Westin Hotel in Ottawa.
The New York Times does a lovely job at explaining what the Conservatives are doing. The idea of cold-calling people likely to be friendly to your policies feels more like an infomercial than Candid Camera.
O'Toole is doing some live events as well. When people don't know who you are, the obvious advice is to go and meet them.
Speaking of the Leaders Debates Commission debates, the 2-hour debates run this week at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, QC:
French: September 8 (8 pm Eastern)
English: September 9 (9 pm Eastern)
Patrice Roy of Radio-Canada will moderate the French debate with Hélène Buzzetti (Les coops de l'information), Guillaume Bourgault-Côté (L'actualité), Paul Journet (La Presse), Marie Vastel (Le Devoir), and Noémi Mercier (Noovo Info).
Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, will moderate the English debate with Rosemary Barton (CBC News), Melissa Ridgen (APTN News), Evan Solomon (CTV News), and Mercedes Stephenson (Global News).
On the English side, a pollster as the moderator is an odd choice. The panel should include print media since most TV journalists often ignore or underestimate economic questions where average Canadians are suffering.
There should be several ways to watch these debates online.
Housing affordability was an issue before the pandemic, but the pandemic made this worse. We did say, and still believe, that there wasn't a trend in the Nova Scotia election results that could translate to the federal election. Housing affordability might be a concern in certain areas. Toronto and Vancouver and their surrounding suburbs have had chronic housing issues for a long time. The place that kept coming up on housing during the pandemic: Nova Scotia.
There are housing issues in Nova Scotia, even outside Halifax. This isn't to say the Liberals will lose significant ground with MPs in the province. People being upset changes their dynamic over how they vote.
The pandemic elections in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick may have benefited from being in the eye of the storm as opposed to this election, where the storm is there but people can see the damage clearly.
The pandemic also exposed to a more obvious level the growing concern over child care. Trudeau pointed out during the TVA debate that Quebec's child care system is the model for the Liberals $10/day child care system proposal. Women dropped out of the workforce at an alarming rate during the pandemic with children home from school.
Trudeau and Blanchet went after O'Toole during the debate on whether the Conservatives would honour the $6 billion deal with Quebec on child care. O'Toole avoided the question. Trudeau has gone after O'Toole on the campaign trail on going back on established deals with 7 provinces and 1 territory. The 3 provinces that haven't agreed (Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick) have conservative premiers. Manitoba and Nova Scotia have conservative premiers who have made deals (the Nova Scotia agreement came under a Liberal premier).
The Conservative plan would cancel those deals and create a refundable tax credit that could pay up to $6,000 for eligible families, replacing the current non-refundable tax deduction. Trudeau pointed out during the debate that tax credits won't help poor families.
We hope the housing and child care concerns will get questions in both official languages at the debates.
We wanted to run a Green Party ad since we have run ads from the 3 major national parties. This isn't really an ad but couldn't find a video that had a traditional ad.
The Greens aren't running 338 candidates, so this video may be more helpful for future elections and for local elections. If nothing else, you get to hear a bit from party leader Annamie Paul before she takes the stage in Gatineau this week.
Free advice: We know the Greens don't have much money but producing an ad can't cost that much. Having an ad doesn't mean the ad has to run on TV; online viewing doesn't require an advertising budget.
Conservative leader Erin O'Toole has a plan to deal with mental health: depression, anxiety, and more. This might be a bit shocking that conservatives care about mental health. O'Toole has some charisma to personalise a topic. He cites his own issues after his air force squadron responded to the 1998 Swiss Air disaster off the coast of Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia. O'Toole noted "operational stress disorder" as a result of the mission.
We do not like raining on parades but this is a stickler on conservatives and mental health. We saw out west during the pandemic, especially with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, of this sudden concern over people's mental health as an excuse to open things up before the science could back that up. This is not the kind of help people with mental health issues really need. There are real mental health issues before, during, and after the pandemic (when the pandemic is actually over). Using them as a smoke screen to get non-essential businesses open is worse than not trying at all.
Mental health is yet another area where the party leader is way ahead of the majority of his MPs and MP candidates. Love that there is a plan; hope O'Toole can rally his members on mental health.
We searched for a Bloc Quebecois election ad and could not find one. This CBC News report gives some insight on promises by the party in this election.
We do find Quebec premier François Legault's neutrality in this election to be intriguing. Quebec will have its provincial election next year. Trudeau has worked with Legault on a number of issues.
Brian Pallister announced his retirement as premier of Manitoba on August 10. Pallister made that official as of Wednesday. The Progressive Conservatives went with Manitoba MLA and deputy premier Kelvin Goertzen as the party's interim leader and new premier. Goertzen is expected to be in the post for 2 months with a new party leader emerging at that point.
There are 3 candidates so far in the party leadership race: former PC cabinet minister Heather Stefanson, backbencher Shannon Martin, and former Conservative MP Shelly Glover. Manitoba has never had a female premier (Martin is a male).
Pallister has been the premier since 2016. He has been under fire for a number of issues from how Manitoba handled the pandemic to his extensive time spent in Costa Rica. You might remember that he called the election a year early in 2019, an actual genius move versus having an election in 2020.
Theoretical questions lead to theoretical answers and confused speculation. NDP leaders get a lot of, well, stupid theoretical questions by lazy journalists. The answer to those questions can still make news.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said he couldn't work with then Conservative leader Andrew Scheer in 2019 in a potential minority government. Singh did not rule out working with Conservative leader Erin O'Toole in 2021.
The Conservatives had a minority government under Stephen Harper from 2006-2011. They didn't work with any party but kept government running. The question really is asking whether the NDP would take down a minority government if the Conservatives had more seats than any other party.
Technically, the Liberals (because they are the current party in power) would have first chance to form government so the non-Conservative parties might have enough seats to make that work. Chances of this happening are smaller than my chance to be the Toronto Maple Leafs backup goalie for a day.
Singh would try to work concessions from O'Toole in that scenario. Doesn't mean that will work. All Singh is saying is that he would try with O'Toole where he wouldn't try with Scheer,
The NDP is campaigning on the fact that their party has won concessions from Justin Trudeau, especially helpful during the pandemic. There is no scenario where Singh wins as many concessions with O'Toole. Liberals are talking pharmacare while the Conservatives aren't.
The better question to ask Singh is what he might want from the Conservatives if they did win a minority government.
photo credits: TVA; CPAC Twitter captures: @canadian_xing video credits: Green Party of Canada; CBC News
Romantic comedies follow a nice, clean flow chart of maneuvers and predictability. I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight is a reminder that imperfect people who feel screwed up might get it right for once.
Winnipeg in winter is the setting for the film. Our protagonists represent prominent communities in Winnipeg: Simon Friesen (Kristian Jordan) is Mennonite and Iris Dela Cruz (Hera Nalam) is of Filipino descent. Simon and Iris met accidentally while pushing someone's car out of a snow bank.
Simon and Iris seem like very nice people but a bit damaged. Iris suggests they tell their secrets to each other, figuring they will never see each other again after that night.
That works out until they realise separately that they like each other. After running into each other at a local market, they decide to start dating.
We find out that Simon and Iris have way more secrets than one night could handle.
Sean Garrity directed My Awkward Sexual Adventure, which partially took place in Winnipeg. This film has its own awkwardness in very different ways. He understands the idea of awkwardness. Guy Maddin would be proud.
The film is about as real a love story as the screen can handle. Vulnerability is difficult when you don't think you are good enough to be with someone. Simon and Iris want to be close but end up doing things that push the other away.
Simon's best friend Gord (Matthew Paris Irvine) is not the typical best friend in a romantic comedy. Gord is a physically intense character who craves intimacy even in non-sexual relationships. We see a lot of Iris' family life, especially her sister Agnes (Andrea Macasaet), who has a fiance Justin (Aaron Pridham) who is physically inappropriate with other women, especially Iris.
The idea of intimacy in side characters while the main characters struggle to find intimacy is a bookmark worth noting.
The film spends most of the time in Winnipeg in the winter. We also get to see Morden, Manitoba and the Mennonite presence. The Friesen name is quite common. Amusing side note: Loreena McKennitt, one of my favourite musicians in the world, is from Morden.
Garrity gambles that we will follow along for the ride. Abandonment is an issue on screen and you might feel abandoned watching the film. Hang in there and, well, you might not get rewarded like a romantic comedy but the ride is worthwhile.
Actors tell us they love to play flawed characters. The main characters struggle in their worlds because they want love but really find love difficult.
Garrity directed My Awkward Sexual Adventure but wrote and directed I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight. He has a strong writing voice, delivering mostly authentic dialogue.
If you really love romantic comedies, you might enjoy this film. If you struggle with love, you will have characters that are relatable.
I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight is currently available in Canada on Crave.
video credit: YouTube/Mongrel Media photo credit: I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight film
I certainly have made a few arguments on how I could make an impact in Canada in various positions over the years. The requirements for the Canadian Senate are full of minutia.
You could argue that I haven't worked in a museum or been a CEO of a non-profit organisation. There is an opening for the CEO at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg after allegations of 'pervasive and systemic' racism.
So why would I be a great CEO for the Canadian Museum of Human Rights?
On the surface, I would not be the ideal CEO for a human rights museum in 2020 since I am a white male from the United States. I understand that. Here is why I might be the ideal candidate.
my love of Canadian film, including Indigenous stories — I likely have seen more documentaries and feature films of Indigenous people than most Canadians who are not Indigenous.
work as a journalist — Covering people's stories who don't normally get enough exposure, you learn to listen and let other people tell their stories. I have the inherent curiosity paramount to a good journalist.
love of history — I almost minored in history at university. I have a strong interest in learning stories from the past and how they relate to the present and the future.
principled approach to offensive sports nicknames — We have never published any of the offensive nicknames for any sports teams at CanadianCrossing.com.
the outsider element — I don't have biases against French-speaking people or Indigenous people. I don't have a province of bias since I am not from any province. I do know enough Canadian history but as an outsider.
empathy and sensitivity — People need to be heard and listened to with understanding. I might be in my box with my outside but feel comfortable being the only white or male or both in a room. I understand the need to have a harmonious workplace where people feel comfortable and safe. Good for those people but also the best way to get the most from your employees.
willingness to live in Winnipeg — I have been to Winnipeg and the museum. I enjoyed my time there. I don't have a snob reaction to living in Winnipeg.
You are often asked in job interviews about your motivations for why you want this particular position. You can't say "Canada. Winnipeg." and expect to get the job. You breathe a sigh and give an unexpectedly honest, blunt answer.
"At this point in my life, my career, I want to be somewhere to make a difference. I don't want this job just as a job. I want to be here at least a decade if not longer. I want this to be the last job interview I have in a good way."
"When I was here in Winnipeg, I heard in separate conversations from white women who told me they would never go in the Canadian Museum of Human Rights because Indigenous people get in for free. I had not been to the museum before these conversations. I was stunned each time I ran across the line, surprised that these women, who did not know each other, would repeat the same line. I hope that I become the new CEO to have a good response as a comeback. I would preach to the converted in this job but I also hope to have opportunities to show people such as these women the meaningfulness of why the museum is for everyone because all humans have rights."
Like a lot of political issues we write about in Canada (health care), provinces have a lot of control. Canada is used a lot for shooting films and TV shows, many of them not Canadian. Outside of Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, provinces have to battle against each other to keep their film industries viable to outside filmmakers.
Let's look at recent efforts in Manitoba and Alberta. Both governments are run by conservative parties: Progressive Conservative in Manitoba and United Conservative in Alberta.
Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Cathy Cox is building on an existing 30% tax credit that refunds companies on their total project costs. Cox says there will be an 8% credit for projects that use Manitoba-based production firms. Filming is an issue but so is editing and post-production positions.
The Manitoba tax credit was scheduled to expire at the end of 2019 but the Pallister Government has made the tax credit permanent.
In Alberta, the Alberta’s new tax incentive program is running into issues and criticism. The province is committing only $22 million in 2020-21, $30 million in 2021-22 and $45 million in 2022-23. The small production grant fund program will be limited to $1 million/year. Alberta had caps on the Alberta Film and Television Tax Credit, unlike other provinces.
Alberta had a credit where 30% of eligible expenses would be reimbursed. The new Alberta budget reduced that mark to 22%.
Anecdotally, the TV series Fargo left Calgary to film on the very north side of Chicago for Season 4.
Nova Scotia lost business after restructuring its film and TV tax credit. The idea of a true Nova Scotia story such as Maudie being filmed in Newfoundland is truly insulting.
Even if the relatively smaller provinces keep churning with tax credits, they might lose business to other provinces. If they don't compete, they will lose business to other provinces.
Given Alberta's financial woes, they would welcome more film and TV business into the province. This characterizes the "if it's not oil and gas, it doesn't count" mentality of the Kenney Government.
Before you make this about Brian Pallister or Jason Kenney, know that Nova Scotia's premier at the time (and still premier) is Stephen McNeil, a Liberal.
Governments and small businesses make money even with the film and TV tax credits. People can point to scenes and know they were filmed in Canada, even if some of those filmmakers try to hide Canada as much as possible. Filmmakers like coming to Canada. If you think they care about the nuance of Alberta vs. Manitoba, remember the Oakland Raiders punter who bought a shirt last summer that said "Winnipeg, Alberta" without a speck of irony.
photo credit: The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom film video credit: YouTube/metropole films
We mentioned Bill 21 a few times during the Canadian election season, mostly for the leaders who were reluctant to stand up for minority rights in La Belle Province. The argument has been that Bill 21 is going through the judicial process.
Manitoba decided to get involved.
Bill 21 prohibits certain workers for the province (lawyers, teachers, police) from wearing religious symbols (hijabs, yarmulkes) on their person while at work.
The Brian Pallister government in Manitoba ran newspaper and digital ads in Quebec to lure French-speaking people to come live in Manitoba. The ad lists 21 reasons to match the number on Bill 21. The Winnipeg Jets, affordable housing, the largest French population west of Ontario, and microbreweries were some of the reasons. The primary reason: being able to wear religious symbols.
Pallister says Manitoba has a shortage of bilingual employees in some areas of its civil service. Manitoba has a number of French-speaking areas, especially St. Boniface in Winnipeg.
"I think this money would have been better spent for French services in Manitoba. And I think Mr. Pallister should work to keep his own people in Manitoba, like Dustin Byfuglien with the Jets," replied Quebec Premier Francois Legault. Byfuglien was suspended by the Winnipeg Jets after not reporting to training camp.
"Rights and freedoms of Canadians should be everyone's business," Pallister told Vassy Kapelos on CBC's Power & Politics. The NDP opposition in Manitoba is on board. "Any policy, any legislation, any ruling that is based upon how you look or what faith you practise, is not right," said NDP heritage critic Diljeet Brar in the assembly.
The media did a pretty good job of conveying the impact of Bill 21 before the bill became law. Unfortunately, since the bill has been implemented, the Canadian media have dropped the ball on how the bill currently impacts Quebecers.
Even if you don't put much hope in the Manitoba drive, a move by a Progressive Conservative government finally got the press to spend a bit of time on Bill 21. People's lives are being dramatically altered and somehow those people aren't worth covering in the eyes of Canadian media.
"People's lives are being ruined. People are being forced to leave their professions. People are being forced to leave this province," Catherine McKenzie, a lawyer representing civil rights groups, told the Quebec Court of Appeal late last month.
Justin Trudeau was the only viable politician to form government who even mentioned the idea of a court challenge of Bill 21. Trudeau's confrontation with Jagmeet Singh on the topic during the final French language debate was worth further mention but that got lost in the Canadian election cycle.
We have made several points during the campaign about the timidity of federal party leaders on Bill 21. There was the concern over lost votes in Quebec. Brian Pallister and Manitoba don't have to be afraid. The question is why the Canadian media is as afraid as Andrew Scheer and Jagmeet Singh.
The story gets lost in English Canada because this law is in French Canada. The argument is specious at best since all rights apply across the board in Canada and also applies to Quebec.
Legault says Bill 21 is "a decision to be taken by Quebecers and Quebecers only" and isn't the business of anyone else. That will literally be for the courts to decide. In the meantime, Bill 21 has impacted negatively the lives of Canadians. The impact is highly newsworthy.
Those who speak French in Quebec who are impacted by Bill 21 have many places to go in Canada. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada. There are French-speaking places scattered all over Canada, especially Ontario, Alberta, and oui, Manitoba. Likely, they will want to stay in Quebec but without Bill 21.
photo credit: Global News video credit: Power & Politics/CBC News
Brian Pallister and the Progressive Conservatives won a second term as premier of Manitoba. That isn't significant news. The hastily called election was timed to give the PCs more power. Pallister said the election was called early this year so as to not interfere with the Manitoba 150th celebration in 2020.
The PCs won 36 seats, down from 40 in 2016 and 38 when the election was called. The opposition NDP now have 18 seats, up from 14 in 2016 and 12 before the election. The Liberals went from 4 seats to 3 seats, significant in that 4 marks official status in the Manitoba legislature. A Manitoba Party MLA and 2 independents won't be back.
Pallister claimed victory even with fewer seats in that they still have a strong majority. Opposition leader Wab Kinew claimed victory because the party picked up seats.
In a province with an Indigenous opposition leader, the 2019 election will be remembered for Manitoba electing black people to the legislature. In a province that has never elected a black person, Manitoba voters selected 3 black people.
Uzoma Asagwara (NDP) became the first simply because her riding was called earlier. Asagwara will represent the Union Station riding.
Jamie Moses (NDP) won in St. Vital, defeating a Metis woman incumbent.
Audrey Gordon (PC) in the Southdale riding battled back and forth all night before winning the riding.
Gordon was the only PC candidate in that category. The NDP and Liberals each had 5 black candidates running in the 2019 election. The Green Party doesn't keep those numbers.
Green Party leader James Beddome ran and lost in Fort Rouge. David Nickarz, the Green Party candidate in Wolseley, had the best chance of winning a seat. Nickarz ended up giving the speech with Beddome at his side.
Liberal Party leader Dougald Lamont did win his seat in St. Boniface, the riding previously held by NDP premier Greg Selinger. The Liberals only seats are in Winnipeg.
The election was full of attacks on Kinew from the PCs and a few jabs at Pallister over the extensive time spent in Costa Rica. Kinew mentioned in his speech that calling Pallister was a "local call."
Health care cuts were a significant issue in the campaign, especially in Winnipeg. The reaction did help the NDP cause for a few more seats.
Pallister's speech was as boring and uninformative as his fellow conservatives speeches in Alberta and Prince Edward Island were angry. This was more like the boss calling you win to tell you everything is fine and on the right path and before you know it, you are back at your desk wondering what happened.
The highlight was the mention of the Manitoba bison. Pallister said the PCs were like the bison in that they always face the challenges coming at them.
On a night where 3 black people were elected, Pallister gave a speech surrounded by old white men. There was a young woman standing behind Pallister (who is apparently rather tall). His party elected one of the 3 black people.
The CBC coverage features a "Manitoba Votes" cafe where average voters weigh in on subjects important to them. The concept was fine but everyone was packed into one large studio. The panel included Kelvin Goertzen, a MLA from Steinbach who won re-election for the PCs. Goertzen easily won his seat.
The voting percentage in 2016 was 57.4%. The lower turnout could be due to a late summer election that came a year early.
No starters. An 80-yard field. No kickoffs. The NFL in Winnipeg was a night to remember and forget.
The CFL goal posts are on the goal line as opposed to the NFL goal posts found at the back end of the end zone. The issues with the patch in the south end zone for the CFL goal posts forced the game into an 80-yard field. Oakland had decided not to play its starters before the goal post issue. Green Bay decided to pull its starters after that decision.
The Oakland Raiders scored the only 12 points of the second half; Daniel Carlson won the game with a 33-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining. Oakland edged out the Green Bay Packers 22-21 at IG Field in Winnipeg last night. The Packers scored all their points in the 2nd quarter.
The 80-yard field wasn't the shortest in NFL history. The 1932 NFL playoff game between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans (later Detroit Lions) had 60 yards in between the goal lines inside Chicago Stadium instead of Wrigley Field.
Aaron Rodgers was the biggest star potentially to take the field. Rodgers has not played in the preseason. The Green Bay star quarterback did make a dramatic entrance at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in a Canadian tuxedo.
apologies to the citizens of Winnipeg, Manitoba... just a kid from Atlanta, Florida playing football in Oakland, Nevada with a low geography IQ @Raidershttps://t.co/oh0i2tJbNR
AJ Cole III is hoping for a long NFL career as a punter instead of going back to school to learn to teach geography. Cole bought a shirt, reportedly via Amazon, that said "Winnipeg, Alberta." Alberta has Edmonton and Calgary, not Winnipeg. Manitoba has Winnipeg and Churchill, home of the polar bears.
The shirt maker didn't check to see if it was wrong. The player didn't check to see if it was right. At least Alberta is in Canada.
Getting an element Canadian and wrong reminded us of the Jeopardy player who told us under pressure that Edmonton was in Ontario; Whistler was in Alberta; and Moose Javians (Saskatchewan) live in Winnipeg.
Luke Willson is a successful Canadian NFL player in his first season in Oakland. Willson grew up in LaSalle, Ontario near Windsor. He missed the first preseason game and only had a single catch for 4 yards last week. Willson didn't have any catches in Winnipeg.
The Upon Further Review podcast hosted on raiders.com interviewed Willson about Canada. Willson said he had never been to Winnipeg. He pointed out that the NFL is big in Canada. Willson noted that he was drafted by the Toronto Argonauts and has not been to a CFL game. To be fair, Willson grew up close to Detroit. He said the CFL draft happened 4 years past secondary school so he was drafted in his junior year at Rice University (Willson was red-shirted).
The Raiders started running back James Butler, who signed earlier this year with the Saskatchewan Roughriders but didn't stick around.
Hard Knocks from HBO is following the Raiders this summer. We don't anticipate too much coverage of Winnipeg.
If the NFL is serious about building a relationship with Canada, the league should look into how much Canadians will invest in the product. We heard a lot of rhetoric from the Buffalo Bills Toronto series about exorbitant ticket prices for preseason and regular season NFL games.
The Oakland-Green Bay game easily sold out the $75 seats in the corners of the upper deck. The 40+ suites easily sold out. The average ticket price for the remaining seats (including parking, taxes, and fees) was reportedly just short of $200. All prices are Canadian dollars. U.S. media converts those numbers to American dollars but Canadians buy those tickets in Canadian dollars.
With about 2 weeks to go, the price of the 5,500-6,000 end zone seats went from $164 to $75 (both prices before taxes and fees).
The 3rd preseason game is considered the best of the preseason. Then again, CFL fans only get 2 preseason games in their league.
The better deal, and one that would have earned everyone more money, is to price the tickets so fans would want to buy them. You can’t make money off concessions and parking unless people show up. You get the nice visual of a large crowd in a beautiful facility.
We know the Blue Bombers are being compensated for providing the host venue. Not clear as to whether the compensation is tied to attendance.
The attendance was announced at 21,992. That number reflected purchases for the 40+ suites. They seemed to steer the fans toward where they would be on TV. The crowd didn't look too bad in the 33,000 seat stadium.
For future travel to the stadium, you can avoid parking costs if you take the #60 bus from downtown. The #36 and #51 buses also connect to the stadium.
Wide receiver Mervyn Fernandez, who just got inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame earlier this month, also played for the Raiders. Fernandez played for the BC Lions from 1982-1986 and 1994 and for the Los Angeles Raiders from 1987-1992.
Fernandez traveled throughout Canada leading up to the game to promote the contest. The Oakland Raiders TV team interviewed Fernandez during the game.
The Boston Red Sox drew more than 16,000 yesterday for the continuation of a suspended game. Admission was $5, free for kids, with $1 hot dogs. The game only lasted 12 minutes.
A different approach would have drawn a joyous crowd. What if the tickets were set up to draw a huge crowd? What if the NFL decided to have some fun and play an exhibition on a CFL sized field. The NFL and CFL played exhibition games with different sized fields from what one of the leagues was used to doing. If the NFL can play on an 80-yard field, why not a 110-yard field for a contrast.
The argument for not using Mosaic Stadium was the quick turnaround between NFL and CFL. The Saskatchewan Roughriders look like geniuses for not hosting the NFL. If the NFL had more imagination, they could have played on a CFL field in Regina.
Let's not put NFL games in Canada with people who don't understand the country and have no imagination. Imagine what the impact would have looked like with a full stadium and the joy of playing on a larger field.
The halftime show was Winnipeg band Attica Riots. The set didn't make the cut for the NFL Network.
TSN, RDS, and the NFL Network picked up the Oakland Raiders feed via KTVU-2 Oakland and KICU-36 San Jose. The crew made some references to Winnipeg and Canada. Beth Mowins made a joke late in the game about Green Bay being "3rd down and Alberta" referring to Cole's shirt.
photo credit: KTVU/Oakland and KICU/San Jose / Oakland Raiders/NFL Twitter captures: @packers; @AJCole90; @Raiders
Then came Manitoba. We didn't have that in our 2019 Canadian politics preview since the province was scheduled to have a 2020 election. The Progressive Conservative government under Premier Brian Pallister wants to avoid a conflict with the province's sesquicentennial in 2020. So we will have a September 10 election in Manitoba.
The original fixed election date was October 6, 2020. The writ has not dropped, so Pallister will have to go to Manitoba Lieutenant Governor Janice Filmon at least 28 days before the election date to dissolve the legislature.
The PC government has 38 seats (down from 40 in 2016) while the opposition NDP has 12 seats (down from 14 in 2016). The Liberals have gone up from 3 (2016) to 4 seats (current). There is 1 Manitoba Party MLA and 2 Independents.
Wab Kinew is the opposition NDP leader. Dougald Lamont is the new Liberal Party leader (since 2017). James Beddome ran for the Green Party in 2016 and will run in 2019. Steven Fletcher of the Manitoba Party was elected as a Progressive Conservative MLA in 2016.
The current government will lower the PST from 8% to 7% on Canada Day 2019. The national sales tax is 5% so those in Manitoba will see a drop from 13% to 12%.
Pallister is known for spending a lot of time in his home in Costa Rica. The premier was criticized for sending tweets to "stay warm" in the winter in bad conditions while being in the warmth of Costa Rica. Pallister was also criticized for not keeping up on the property assessment of his Costa Rica bungalow, owing about $8,000 in penalties and back taxes.
Kinew has criticized the Pallister Government for healthcare cuts, including the acceleration of the closure of the emergency room of the Seven Oaks hospital in Winnipeg.
The unions representing workers at Seven Oaks Hospital say staff are frustrated and have many unanswered questions about the closure of the ER.
The hospital's emergency department was supposed to close in September and be replaced with an urgent care centre. But the WRHA says now the timeline has been accelerated to this summer.
The initial polls show the PCs and NDP running close in the city of Winnipeg while the PCs enjoy more of an edge outside the capital.
There is a gamble in calling an early election. Every incumbent government that tries thinks there will get more seats. The last British election and the Quebec election of 2014 shows that strategy can backfire.
We don't if this is Kinew's time but I do remember hearing his story on the night of the 2016 election. His path is a bit unusual but you have to consider that the NDP picked their new leader knowing he had only been a politician for fewer than 18 months.
We finally have a confirmation of a NFL preseason game in Winnipeg on August 22 at 7 pm CDT with the Oakland Raiders as the home team against the Green Bay Packers.
The Raiders are in the process of moving from Oakland to Las Vegas. There was a conflict with the Oakland A's over the Week 3 NFL preseason game.
The game at IG Field (formerly Investors Group Field) in Winnipeg will be the first NFL game in the province of Manitoba, and only the second game ever in western Canada. Outside the Buffalo Bills series in Toronto, the last NFL preseason game in Canada was on August 15, 1998 when the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks played at BC Place in Vancouver.
Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 am CDT. Prices range from $75-$340 Canadian. If you are going to the game, the sightlines are rather good there. Even the end zone seats are pretty nice.
NFL exhibition games in Canada used to be more common. Previous NFL exhibition games in Canada have primarily focused on Eastern Canada in Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, and Hamilton.
American fans of a different kind of football will be familiar with what was then called Investors Group Field when the 2015 U.S. Women's World Cup soccer team played in Winnipeg. The stadium got some NHL focus with the 2016 Heritage Classic. IG Field also hosted the 2015 Grey Cup.
See you soon, Canada. 🇨🇦
We’re heading north of the border for the first time ever, hosting the Packers in Winnipeg this preseason.
The Week 11 CFL schedule was a determining factor. Winnipeg is in Edmonton on Friday that week. The Blue Bombers did not want the NFL game to be on the same night as the CFL game.
Oakland's first choice was Mosaic Stadium in Regina, home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Roughriders, hosting Ottawa on Saturday night, felt the field conversion would cut too close. The Raiders then looked east to Winnipeg.
Touchdown Atlantic is Sunday so the CFL didn't ideally want a game in Canada opposite the game in Moncton.
The Valour FC Canadian Premier League soccer match for August 22 at IG Field will have to be rescheduled.
Aaron Rodgers may be the biggest name to play in the game, but the loudest cheers might be for Luke Willson, actual Canadian NFL player. Willson played mostly with Seattle but played for his nearby hometown team Detroit last year. Willson is from LaSalle near Windsor in Ontario. The Oakland Raiders signed Willson in March.
The game will be carried by the Oakland and Green Bay local networks. U.S. fans should get a tape-delayed version of the game via the NFL Network. TSN and RDS will have the game live in Canada.
