As Manitoba's COVID-19 situation boils, politicians point fingers
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Manitoba’s official opposition leader slammed Premier Brian Pallister on Tuesday, suggesting the province’s top politician is employing a strategy of blame to distract people from the failings of government during the third wave.
NDP leader Wab Kinew said there was also a disingenuous element to Pallister’s comments during a press conference at the Manitoba Legislature.
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“If you lay out the timeline of when somebody becoming eligible for a vaccine could have made a difference in them showing up in an ICU, you’d understand that people would have had to be eligible weeks and weeks ago,” Kinew said. “For them to gloss over that and not share that information with Manitobans, to me, is a deliberate choice and it’s a signal that this is yet another attempt to try and respond to a health-care crisis with political spin.”
Pallister wasn’t the only one to point the finger at Manitobans. Dr. Perry Gray, Shared Health’s chief medical officer, shared a similar sentiment, suggesting during a technical briefing that some Manitobans are hesitant to get tested.
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, alluded to issues contact tracers are still finding when it comes to honesty.
Earlier in the day, several doctors from the province pleaded with government to enact a stay-at-home order and close non-essential businesses.
Despite those challenges, Kinew said the major challenge was the province not putting in more strict restrictions earlier and the decision, prior to the pandemic, to shutter emergency rooms.
“In terms of the timeline, Mr. Pallister shared the message first — it was a political message,” Kinew said. “He came out on Thursday morning and shared that blame with Manitobans for not getting vaccinated message. Then he comes out today and doubles down on the issue of people not getting tested.”
Pallister, responding to a question of why he continually blames Manitobans for the situation the province is in, said there is a lot of blame to go around.
“But when people don’t go and get tested when they have COVID, who else am I supposed to talk about?” Pallister said. “When people go in and don’t cooperate with a contact tracer and provide information on who they’ve been in contact with, how the hell are we supposed to stop people from getting COVID?”
Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont said he’s disappointed that, once again, government is not heeding the advice of front-line workers.
“It’s beyond shameful. It’s reckless,” Lamont said. “We need this. It’s beyond saving summer. This is about saving lives.”
sbilleck@postmedia.com
Twitter: @scottbilleck
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