Manitoba throne speech to set tone for spring election

Manitoba's NDP government unveils its last Throne Speech Monday before it seeks an unprecedented fifth term in office, but already the election machine for each party is ramping up.

The NDP is promoting record fundraising over the past few months and a slick machine that has nominated about half its slate of candidates ahead of the April provincial vote.

Premier Greg Selinger raised the PST from seven to eight per cent in 2013, and he's spent the last two years justifying it.

During the sloppy roll out of the tax increase the government said the money would be used on everything from roads to hospitals.

That broad message was refined to infrastructure and flood mitigation, and now it's laser focused to a five-year, $5.5 billion plan, to which the government keeps an updated list of actual projects.

Expect the Throne Speech to continue to lay out Selinger's plan to "build" Manitoba, and create jobs while it's at it.

Of late, Selinger's chief jobs guy has talked with stunning regularity about how Manitoba has Canada's lowest unemployment rate. Jobs and the economy minister and Point Douglas MLA Kevin Chief talks about it online (Twitter) and on demand in question period.

Perhaps, it's a surprise to some the party leading the charge to campaign, is barely able to participate in question period.

This fall, the Liberals have made a great number of election-style announcements. The party in a distant third-place provincially clearly thinks it can build off federal Liberal momentum.

It's drawing early battle lines for the campaign on populist issues including an open position on car sharing services, such as Uber, in-vitro fertilization funding and, most recently, turning government funded loans for students into non-refundable grants.

Expect the Liberals to act like they're on the hustings over the next few weeks of session, with more announcements that are easy for people to wrap their heads around.

The Liberals only have one member in the Manitoba Legislature, former leader and River Heights MLA Jon Gerrard. So it makes sense they have to operate primarily out of the house and in front of the media to get anyone's attention. 

Meanwhile, the Progressive Conservatives continue to hammer home they are the government-in-waiting. For the second year in a row, the Tories presented an alternative Throne Speech to outline PC values and priorities.

Just like last year, it was slim on new policy ideas, but symbolically done to demonstrate to Manitobans leader Brian Pallister thinks he has a team ready to govern.

Remember the Tories 2014 alternative Throne Speech was delivered during a time when rebel cabinet ministers were calling on Premier Greg Selinger to quit.

The legislative chaos made it look unlikely for a couple weeks there would even be a 2014 fall session. In the end, the rebel ministers quit cabinet and Selinger was able to steady the ship, albeit tentatively.

Since the NDP Leadership battle, which Greg Selinger won in March in a nail biter, surprise-surprise New Democrats have been eager to leave the revolt in the past, but the Tories use any chance it can to drag it back up.

Currently the party is running an attack ad using clips from the rebels' resignation news conference and  consistently bring it up in question periods.

This fall session the Tories will likely remain on the attack. Don't expect too many new ideas from them. Those likely won't come until the New Year, when the election is mere months away, and voting is more on people's mind.