The Black Rod

  Something is happening---and we don't know what it is, yet. It's like a change in the weather; your knees ache, the temperature drops suddenly, or the wind picks up and you don't know what's happening, but you know something is. There's been a change in the political weather in Manitoba. For the past two-and-a-half weeks the NDP's biggest allies at the Winnipeg Free Press have pumped out a barrage of commentary attacking the government, which individually and collectively are so flimsy they only indicate that the writers are grasping at straws. Columnist Niigaanwewidam Sinclair went full Tasmanian Devil on Education Minister Wayne Ewasko for calling Opposition leader Wab Kinew a ham. In the Legislature Ewasko said that Kinew "seems to stand in this house on a day-to-day basis pretending to be some kind of actor. He's no Adam Beach, Madam Speaker." Sinclair, who belongs to the Aboriginal Church of Perpetural Outrage, thundered that "Minister ...

  Uh oh. They say dogs can smell fear. Well, the hounds must have been howling this weekend after Winnipeg Free Press readers saw the latest opinion column from the city's King of Fake News, Dan Lett, who has suddenly realized his hopes and dreams may be swirling down the toilet. Just over a week ago U of M political scientist Paul Thomas wrote a column advising the NDP of the preparations needed to take power from the Conservatives who have been badly trailing the New Democrats in the polls for months. Keeping with the same theme, two days later, Lett wrote that all those polls, especially the one showing a "remarkable" 20-point lead in Winnipeg for the NDP, "suggest the coming election is his (NDP leader Wab Kinew's) to lose. " But by week's end, in a column dripping with flop sweat, Lett was putting distance between himself and his political hero. And it put a new light on his interview with Kinew. " Manitoba government bets big on nurses’ forgiv...

  With 2022 receding fast in the rear-view mirror there's just enough time to ordain the annual Newsmaker of the Year. He arrived with the biggest anticipation, the biggest name, the biggest voice, the biggest lead in the polls, and the biggest hype in the press. He ended the year as the biggest loser, and that's not a reference to having the biggest waistline in the race to be mayor. Ladies and gentlemen, say goodbye to Glen Murray. Goodbye because his crash-and-burn campaign was like watching the Hindenberg drop gently from the sky before erupting in uncontrollable fire, consumed in minutes. That sucker will never fly again. With an election set for October, the press treated Murray's anticipated candidacy like the Second Coming. Murray, who was mayor from 1998 to 2004, had come home to retake the reins at city hall. When would he announce? The official announcement came on June 22.  To the press, the election was over. Nobody could beat Glen Murray. His campaig...