Drama over carbon tax fight, Hydro woes and Costa Rica taxes thrusts Premier Pallister into the spotlight
Press conferences with Manitoba's premier are beginning to take on dramatic undertones
As the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives reach the midpoint of their mandate, the sheer drama of a press conference with Premier Brian Pallister has developed a theatrical undertone.
In a two-day span in late March he suggested there were "untruths" given by a hand-picked group, most of them Tories, on the Hydro board as their reasons for resigning from that board, and started an open war with the Manitoba Metis Federation over, in his words, "hush money" to a "special interest group."
Former Hydro board chair Sandy Riley said the resignations stemmed from an inability to meet face-to-face with the premier.
That's a concern that's been echoed by many in the business community who say they have become used to the premier's door being firmly shut, or being told by his senior staff or ministers they don't have authority to make decisions on pressing matters.
Two weeks after the Hydro board said their not-too-fond farewells, a more subdued Pallister faced questions (yet again) about his winter home in Costa Rica — this time over whether he's paying the proper amount of taxes on the property.
But the week wasn't over yet.
Pallister to Ottawa: 'Back off'
On Friday, the dial on the drama meter danced toward, but didn't quite bury itself in, the peak zone.
Unprompted and sounding off-script, the premier fired a blast at the Trudeau government and Opposition Leader Wab Kinew on carbon taxes.
"I have a simple message for Ottawa today. Back off," the premier said.
What it's supposedly for and what we are going to use it for might be two different things.- Premier Brian Pallister on carbon tax
The rest of the broadside from Pallister at Ottawa was "or we'll see you in court."
But "I'm not threatening," the premier assured reporters.
Pallister was targeting suggestions from an unnamed federal spokesperson (he said his office would "fact-check" who said what) of extra carbon taxes above Manitoba's own soon-to-be-imposed $25 per tonne levy.
Then, as a good stage play can, the premier tacked back the dialogue a minute or so later to suggest Manitoba and the federal government were actually partners and allies in the fight against climate change, saying "as of this moment we are in negotiations with Ottawa on several programs."
'Lots of unanswered questions' on carbon tax
Reporters tried to get the premier to explain specifically how his "made-in-Manitoba" climate change plan would actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Even more specifically, what percentage of the PC-imposed carbon tax would be spent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
"I don't think that's a useful commitment to make," Pallister said. "What it's supposedly for and what we are going to use it for might be two different things."
The challenge is with carbon pricing and carbon tax in Manitoba.- Chambers of Commerce president Chuck Davidson
The opposite of the untruth in Manitoba's climate change plan is that there are few specific programs the government has announced.
It will create a $110-million heritage fund to purchase wetlands (using only the interest from the fund) and has some as yet untargeted dollars for the sustainable development budget.
Pallister added to that list on Friday, including unspecified water and sewer projects around the province, some unnamed public-private partnerships and an as yet unannounced commitment to electric buses.
The main message on the made-in-Manitoba climate change from Pallister so far isn't about carbon emissions. It is that "it's flat" — revenue neutral. The money remains "on the kitchen tables of Manitobans."
Pallister sees incursion by Ottawa on the climate change file as a "dangerous threat," saying, as an example, that for small business owners in Manitoba it represented "uncertainty."
"I'm from a small business, farm background. Uncertainty is a bad thing," he told reporters Friday.
Perhaps the premier should have checked in with the head of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce the day before, who politely applauded NDP Leader Wab Kinew's move to delay the carbon tax legislation.
Chambers president Chuck Davidson the "uncertainty" isn't from Ottawa these days — it's coming from the big stone building on Broadway.
"The challenge is with carbon pricing and carbon tax in Manitoba," Davidson told CBC News.
"There are still lots of unanswered questions. And so the government has come out with a plan and a bit of direction on where they'd like to go. We weren't necessarily exactly on the same page as to how the revenues were going to be recycled back into the public."
More drama to come
Companies that run trucking fleets, businesses that own buildings or deliver services by vehicles, even ordinary Manitobans want to know what's available to reduce consumption and therefore reduce carbon emissions.
But those undramatic details weren't available at the premier's latest press conference.
Instead he chose to wax poetic on what he calls the "sword of Damocles thing" being threatened by Ottawa.
There are so many more acts to this drama.
Pallister faces a fight within his own party on the efficacy of imposing any tax at any time for any reason. There are people who voted for him who do not believe climate change is real or caused by human activity.
Some credit is due for having a "made-in-Manitoba" plan at all.
And the drama at Manitoba Hydro has its origins in strategic decisions made by previous administrations (and giant project cost overruns that never seem to end).
However, the days of pointing fingers back in time might be running out. These problems exist on the current stage and Brian Pallister is in the spotlight.
One day there may not be a Sandy Riley or Wab Kinew or federal government to blame.
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