PCs' Brian Pallister targeted in feisty election debate between 4 Manitoba party leaders

Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister faced a barrage of attacks as the leaders of Manitoba's other three main political parties used a televised debate Wednesday to take aim at the perceived front-runner in the 2019provincial election campaign.

Pallister, who is seeking re-election onSept. 10 after winning a convincing majority in2016, was repeatedly in the crosshairs, with other party leaders the NDP's Wab Kinew, Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont and theGreen Party's James Beddomeusingtheir allotted questions to slam his party's overhaul of the health-care system and attack the premier for a recentdowngradeto the province's economic outlook.

The sparring was mostheated during exchanges on health care, withPallisterinsisting only his party couldreform a system thatproduced the worst wait times in the country under the previousNDP government.

Kinew slammed Pallister for makinghealth care worse through a consolidation plan that reduced the number of emergency rooms in Winnipeg from six to three, and left front-line workers exhausted.

Watch asPallister defends his government's record on health care:

Manitoba Debate 2019: Kinew and Pallister clash over health care

5 years ago

Duration 3:04

Wab Kinew and Brian Pallister clash on health care during the 2019 Manitoba election debate

"Who can believe you this time when it comes to health?" Kinew asked the man he hopes to unseat.

"Everyone," Pallisterreplied, "because we've kept our word."

Pallister says PCs will balance budget by 2022

The 50-minute televised debategot snippy at times, particularly betweenPallister and Kinew, who frequently talked over each other.

The debate,held atCBC Manitoba's studios and moderated by Red River College journalism instructor Joanne Kelly,involved few direct answers toqueries and a reliance on talking points. It was organizedby a consortium of Manitobabroadcasters: CBC, CTV and Global/CJOB.

There were few revelations on Wednesday, aside fromPallistersaying he would balance the budgettwo years earlier than his previouspromiseof 2024.

"The reality is that we've worked very, very hard, while maintaining increasing investments in health care," Pallister told reporters after the debate.

Watch as Lamont attributes economic downturn to Pallister's inaction:

Manitoba Debate 2019: Lamont spars with Pallister over the economy

5 years ago

Duration 3:10

Party leaders debate the issues during the 2019 Manitoba election debate

Finances and the economy were a major focus of the debate, withPallister twice attemptingto pressKinew on whether he'd increase theprovincial sales tax if elected. In 2013, the NDP government increased the PST from seven to eight per cent a move reversed by the PCs earlier this year.

"The PST is a settled issue," Kinew said. "It is not going up."

Lamont later blasted Pallisterfor contributing to a gloomier economic forecast for the province by reining in program spending.

"Could you please tell Manitobans how freezing wages and firing people grows the economy?"

Kinew attacks PCs on health care

The NDP leader has said he'd fight the election campaign on health care, and he broughtthat strategy into the debate.

He related the story ofa Manitoba woman hetalked to whorecently went to St. Boniface Hospital to deliver her baby.

"When they got to the waiting room, it was so packed that mom had to go lie down in the car in the parking lot through her contractions," Kinewsaid.

The woman told him the birth of her first child before the Tories came to power was a far different experience.

"They said it was like giving birth in two different countries," the NDP leadersaid.

Kinew spent a portion of the night on the defensive, as he justified a green plan offeringa $350 rebate on all Manitobans' electricity bills, which would encourage people to make green decisions like winterizingtheir homes, he said.

Beddome said the NDP'sideawould only entice people to waste electricity.

"The NDP plan is a disaster financially for Hydro and is worse than the PCs',"Lamont added.

Watch as party leaders discuss their environmental platforms

Manitoba Election 2019: Candidates outline their climate change platforms

5 years ago

Duration 4:33

Candidates in 2019 Manitoba election are questioned about climate plans by Marcy Markusa during the debate

The Liberal leader positioned his party as theprogressive option, presenting his environmental plan, which promises to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, as bolder than any other strategy.

He also took aim at Kinew for saying in a 2015 Maclean's article he leaned conservative on fiscal matters.

"I think the NDP are sort of trying to be as PCas possible in order to stay safe, when the fact is that we need major investments in things like infrastructure," Lamont said after the debate.

Beddome, meanwhile, said the time has come for Manitoba to elect its first Green Party representative to the legislature.

"We're seeing Greens elected across Canada," he told the audience."It's time to elect Greens in Manitoba."

At one point, the party leaders were askedif they'd support the public consumption of cannabis edibles in Manitoba, with Beddome going further and suggestinglicensed establishments should serve cannabis products.

Lamont dismissed the need for edible consumption in public places, Kinew said his government would permit it if the packaging is childproof and Pallister did not answer the question.

Watch as CBC journalists Kristin Annable, Bartley Kives and Marcy Markusa analyze the debate:

Manitoba Debate 2019: Annable, Kives and Markusa discuss how the leaders did

5 years ago

Duration 27:49

Kristin Annable, Bartley Kives and Marcy Markusa analyze the debate winners and losers.

So far, the televised debate is the only confirmed event during the campaignwhere the fourparty leaders will square off. Pallister has yet to commit to next week's Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce debate, and a debate in Brandon has been cancelled after organizers said Pallisterwouldn't participate.

Wednesday's debate came just over two weeks into an election campaign marked by theProgressive Conservatives, who have been identified as the favouritein a recent poll,pledging to lower taxes and gradually build on initiatives from their first term, such as health-care reform.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, havecast the PCs as a volatilechoice, saying their governmentbrought chaos to health care and slashed social services.

At dissolution, the Tories had 38 seats in the legislature, the NDP had 12 representatives, the Liberals had four MLAs and three MLAs were independents.

• Full coverage of the 2019 Manitoba election

There was no mention at the debateof eitherKinew'sassault of a taxi driver or allegations he abused a former partner, despite the NDP leader's past being featured predominantly in PCadvertising.

"I want to talk about the issues Manitobans care about," Pallister said afterwards.

Watch the full debate here:

Manitoba leaders debate 2019

5 years ago

Duration 50:02

Manitobans vote for their next provincial government on Sept. 10. The leaders of the province's four main political parties squared off in a live televised debate on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019.