The Black Rod

In less than a week, the election forecast for the NDP has turned from sunny and mild to unsettled with a chance of revulsion. It's getting cooler. The winds have shifted. Radar is picking up clouds on the horizon. Is there a storm coming? Or will it just blow over? It's too soon to tell. But, unexpectedly, a theme is developing within the election campaign--- can you trust the NDP? And in the eye of the growing tempest is unelected Premier Greg Selinger, the dirtiest politician in Manitoba, whose re-election campaign boils down to scaring voters with attack ads that paint Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen as the Boogieman. No lie is too great to throw at McFadyen, but it's those very lies that are backfiring in the face of the NDP. It started last Saturday with a letter to the editor of the Winnipeg Free Press from Len Bateman, the former chairman of Manitoba Hydro. Selinger has consistently declared that the Conservatives have a secret plan to privati...

The inquest report into the 2006 death of Blue Bombers fan Andrew Szabo was released on Tuesday -- but news reports only hint at the actual horror story behind the tragedy. Szabo slowly bled to death in Grace Hospital after falling off a landing onto the concrete below and suffering a broken pelvis that went undiagnosed. Inquest Judge Mary Kate Harvie tries to make ER doctor Terrance Bergmann the scapegoat but news reports failed to point out that she cited Winnipeg paramedics as sharing the blame. Here's the full story... Imagine this scenario: a man trips and free-falls, say, 15 feet before crashing into the cement. He' s unconscious and bleeding from the back of his head. What do you think happens next? Most people would say somebody calls 911, an ambulance shows up, and the unfortunate man is taken to a hospital as quickly as possible for x-rays to his skull. You dreamer. Here's how it worked in real life in Winnipeg. * Szabo stumbled on the st...

It's getting crowded under the bus. The provincial NDP are shifting their 2011 election campaign into high gear while the Opposition Tories are hibernating peacefully. Friday the NDP started trimming dead wood and you will be surprised to see who they're throwing out. NDP candidate for mayor Judy Wasylycia-Leis was the first to get tossed under the wheels. They've obviously decided she's gone as far as she's going and its time to shift resources to the provincial campaign. This morning she woke up to read " Dufferin residents fighting crime/ Getting phone line for anonymous tips." "This Saturday, about 500 residents of the inner-city neighbourhood will get posters advertising a new phone line dedicated to collecting anonymous tips that will hopefully clear out crack dealers, slum housing and gang houses. "It's a very tough area," said Chris Burrows. The 70-year-old former kindergarten teacher is the spokeswoman ...