PCs architects of their own misfortune

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/10/2023 (227 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

‘Wab Kinew is not just giving a victory speech for the NDP, he is delivering a role model speech about personal redemption and responsibility.” — Duane Bratt, political science professor, Mount Royal University, Calgary

Mr. Kinew, your party did not get my vote.

But you have my congratulations on your political victory and your permanent place in Canadian history as the first First Nations premier.

In this election campaign from hell, the voices of darkness, and the dog whistles of bigotry, buffaloed my spirit. This voice of conservatism was muted at the advance poll 10 days ago.

On my drive to the poll at the community centre, I viewed ads on bus benches telling me that because of Wab Kinew’s background, violent crime would become even worse in Manitoba. I was told the Manitoba PCs were standing firm on a decision not to dig for remains of two murdered Indigenous women. I was told that the PCs were the only ones standing up for parental rights.

These stark and dark messages bullhorned into my brain that the party of the eloquent, elegant Duff Roblin had been mugged, drugged, dragged and buried.

My revulsion at a campaign designed by moral degenerates still could not make me vote NDP.

Since coming to Manitoba in 1983, in the odd event that I soured on the PCs, I would reluctantly vote Liberal.

This time, there was no reluctance. I wanted nothing to do with rewarding a vulgar campaign that insulted Manitobans and debased democracy.

I wanted to say to the murdered young Indigenous women, I cannot support a party that is bragging about “Standing Firm” on your remains. You’ve already paid too high a price for not being born on Heather Stefanson’s side of town.

I also wanted to say something to young people, so uncomfortable in their own bodies and so fearful of a discussion with their own parents, that they regularly think about ending their lives. I wanted to say to them, that I would not support those who use the slogan “parental rights” to crush your will to survive in a forest of fetid right-wing goonery.

Days after voting in the advance poll, the brain-absent PC campaign posted another ad reminding PC supporters that if they were being made to feel ashamed of their support for the party, there was no need to tell anyone how they voted. And after all, the ad reminded them that this was a secret ballot.

Well, I don’t get paid by the Free Press to keep my views a secret. This longtime PC supporter was ashamed of the campaign. I did not vote PC because that would have been the moral equivalent of crushing Duff Roblin’s legacy.

Friends ask friends to make predictions before election day. The PCs had 35 seats when the writ was dropped. I predicted the NDP would wind up with the same number.

As I write this column, the morning after election day, the scoreboard has the NDP winning or leading in 34 seats, PCs in 22, Liberals in one.

This was not the outcome I expected a month ago. But it is precisely what I expected when I saw that unforgettably ugly ad, glaring at me, like a rabid rat on Kenaston Boulevard. “Stand Firm” was a crushing of my kinship with the 2023 PCs. There was no love of Manitobans in that ad — only a loathing of two women that the ad creator did not want me to view as Manitobans or even as human beings.

My progressive conservativism doesn’t dehumanize any Canadian. Indigenous people are our equals. They don’t compete with us. They are us.

Kinew, in his victory speech, said he turned his life around when he stopped making excuses for the way he was living and started looking for a reason to do better.

He said he found it in family and community. He asked young people to make a decision. Stop making excuses and find a reason to improve your life.

At the polling booth for a brief second, I asked myself what possible excuse could I offer for voting blue. My conscience demanded that I discard excuses and give a reason for my vote. Somewhere up there, I hope Duff Roblin is reading this Free Press column, the way I watched him read so many in the winter of his monumentally historic life. I stood firm, Duff. I stood for us — for everything we shared — our love and respect for our families, community, values and honour.

Charles Adler is a longtime political commenter and podcaster. charles@charlesadler.com