UPDATED – October 26, 2023 at 1100 CST – Manitoba Agriculture is back under old management.
Ron Kostyshyn, the final agriculture minister of the previous NDP government, has been appointed to the portfolio by Premier Wab Kinew.
The Dauphin MLA is a farmer and has been a municipal reeve in recent years.
Other ministers of note to agriculture are new to government, including:
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Ian Bushie — minister for municipal affairs
Lisa Naylor — minister of transportation and infrastructure
Tracy Schmidt — environment minister
Jamie Moses — economic development minister
Malaya Marcelino — labour minister
Former NDP agriculture critic Diljeet Brar is not in cabinet.
The NDP cabinet is short on rural and agricultural talent, with the vast majority of its seats in Winnipeg. Other than Kostyshyn, who lives in the Ethelbert area but whose constituency contains the significant urban population of Dauphin, the NDP was shut out of rural Manitoba.
Kinew noted that his party now represents about 70 percent of Manitoba’s landmass, but most of that comes from the sparsely populated rocks-and-trees areas of northern Manitoba. In farm country, the Progressive Conservative party has almost a complete lock, while in Winnipeg, the PCs have lost most of their MLAs. The province is as badly divided along urban-rural lines as it was at the end of the last NDP government.
There isn’t much farming experience in cabinet, although Moses has an agribusiness degree and worked at the CWB.
Kinew repeated his election night pledge to work for all Manitobans, not just the people and areas that voted for the NDP. He also recognized the importance of the non-government elements of Manitoba.
“I have said many times that the economic horse pulls the social cart. We are committed to being responsible stewards of the provincial economy, and balanced when it comes to the books,” said Kinew.
“We need to ensure that the ag industry and the manufacturing sector continue to remain strong but are well positioned for growth in the years to come.”
The government’s main priority will be to repair the health-care system, Kinew said. During the election campaign the NDP vowed to reopen Winnipeg emergency rooms that were shut during the PC years as part of a restructuring designed to reduce waiting times.
He said the government’s most immediate priority will be to tackle the affordability issues that are plaguing most Manitoban, and beginning to fix the perceived problems in health care.
The government has also pledged to end the chronic homelessness currently visible in all population centres.
Approached after the over two-hour ceremony at Winnipeg’s indoor botanical gardens, Kostyshyn seemed refreshed from his seven years outside of government and keen to get back to his old job.
He said it is too early to say what he will tackle as priority issues for the next four years, other than noting that the crown land lease issue is an obvious one.
“I’ll have to meet with the deputy minister and the other staff to see what’s out there,” said Kostyshyn.
“There are probably certain things that we need to revisit. A number on the insurance side, maybe, but that to me will only be when I sit down with the deputy minister.”
The swearing-in ceremony was filled with much ceremony, pomp and circumstance, especially of an Indigenous nature, as Kinew paid tribute to the Indigenous people of the province. Christian and indigenous prayers, drumming and jigging made for a unique ceremony of government transition.
Kinew had a war bonnet placed upon his head at the beginning of the ceremonies, a sacred fire was lit and Justice Murray Sinclair, the noted jurist and head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, presided over the swearing in of premier and cabinet.
Kinew highlighted the diverse nature of his cabinet, with a Nigerian-origin deputy premier and people from a wide variety of backgrounds.
“Manitoba’s deputy premier is also queer and non-binary. The people of Manitoba have elected to our team also a trans person, and many members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. And I want to say, at this time of increasingly harmful rhetoric, to members of the two-spirit and LGBTQ+ communities, they do have many voices around our government table and you have an entire team of allies.”
Kinew is the first First Nations premier of Manitoba, and the third indigenous leader, following Louis Riel and John Norquay in its earliest years. Kinew has pledged to have Riel honorarily recognized as Manitoba’s first premier since the Metis leader fled the province after gaining it provincial status.
Contact ed.white@producer.com
