Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister appeared to cruise to a second electoral victory as preliminary results showed his governing Progressive Conservative Party retaining a sizable majority in the provincial legislature.
The Sept. 10 victory gives Pallister's right-leaning government a mandate to continue broad economic reforms which have included reining in spending at province-owned electric utility Manitoba Hydro. Pallister called the election with almost a year left in his mandate, capitalizing on his popularity in rural regions of the province and in the midst of court battles over a federally imposed emissions tax. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked off a federal election campaign Sept. 11 which will see voters go to the polls Oct. 21.
The province's Progressive Conservatives took 36 of the 57 seats available in the legislature, a decrease of two from the 2016 election, according to unofficial results posted by Elections Manitoba. The New Democratic Party, which was ousted by the Progressive Conservatives in the last election, gained six seats for a total of 18 and will form the Official Opposition under leader Wab Kinew. Manitoba's Liberal Party held onto three seats, a decrease of one, although it could lose its official party status in the legislature, which requires four seats. Three independent legislators lost their seats.
Pallister used his victory speech to emphasize the government's cost-cutting agenda for the coming term, which will include reforms to health care and education. His previous term saw board members and executives at Manitoba Hydro, including some of his own appointees, removed and replaced, as the government sought to bring down debt from massive hydro and transmission projects. He repeatedly referred to his party's campaign slogan, Forward, in his speech.
"Manitobans made a decision — not backward, forward," Pallister said. "Forward to balanced budgets, forward to better care — and sooner — forward to better schools ... Forward to more affordability for families with lower taxes and more money right on the kitchen table."
Pallister has clashed with Trudeau over the so-called federal carbon tax, and Manitoba has joined a number of provinces in legal challenges to the levy. Manitoba claims the federal government overstepped its authority in imposing the tax on provinces without programs that price emissions. Pallister's government contends the federal program does not adequately value non-taxation measures in carbon reduction such as the province's development of hydroelectric power, which it exports to neighboring provinces and the U.S. Challenges to the tax have been rejected by provincial courts in Saskatchewan and Ontario. Both of those provinces plan appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Exports of hydroelectric power are set to get a boost from a Manitoba-to-Minnesota transmission line that will give the province improved access to the U.S. power grid. Pallister caused a stir by rejecting a proposed benefits agreement related to the project between Manitoba Hydro and the Manitoba Metis Federation in 2018, which prompted nine of the utility's 10 board members to quit. Manitoba Hydro has started construction on its portion of the transmission line, and both the Canadian and U.S. segments are expected to be in service by June 2020.
