The Black Rod

Cabinet minister Dave Chomiak poked a thumb in Premier Greg Selinger's eye on Friday, and dared the Premier to do something about it. The mainstream media reported on the thumb, but ignored the eye, leaving it up to us to do their job again. "Six Months" Chomiak is one of 12 cabinet ministers who got caught taking free tickets to Winnipeg Jets hockey games from Crown corporations, Red River College and private companies that do business with the government. But he's the only one to declare that he intends to pick and choose what sections of cabinet policy on accepting freebies he will follow and what he won't---- because he can . Earlier in the month, the Premier gave a televised mea culpa for the scandal that's enmeshed his government and announced that ministers who enjoyed Jets games on someone else's dime would pay back the cost of their tickets, and do the right thing and apologize. Chomiak said 'blow it out...

When Premier Greg Selinger released a list of 13 NDP MLA's who got free tickets to Winnipeg Jets games he forgot one name -- his own. On Oct. 9, 2011, the Winnipeg Jets played their home opener and Greg Selinger was among the invited guests, along with former NDP Premier Gary Doer and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Blogger Allison Pattison, a Creative Communications student at Red River College, wrote about Selinger's attendance at the game. http://passittopatty.blogspot.com/2011/10/fans-still-love-ya-jets.html . "The MTS Centre was packed to the roof. Literally. I would say about 80% of the fans in there were in white, which was a good thing because that means when the Jets request a white-out, fans will know what to do." "The game started off with a ceremonial puck drop; Rick Rypien's mom had the honour." "Along with Rypien's mom in attendance were a few other known names. Our Prime Minister Stephen ...

It started March 21st. It was near the end of a long, boring meeting of a committee of the Legislature at which the Opposition gets to ask questions about crown corporations like the Liquor Control Commission. Out of the blue, Ron Schuler (P.C. St. Paul) asked," Is the MLCC a season ticket holder of the Winnipeg Jets ?" The resulting discussion was hardly momentous. Roman Zubach, acting president of the liquor commission, answered,"We do hold 10 season tickets..." Schuler asked Jim Rondeau, minister responsible for the Liquor Control Act, "Has the minister been to any Winnipeg Jets games using MLCC Jets tickets?" "No," said Rondeau. "Could we have a list who has access to those tickets?" asked Schuler. Rondeau squirmed a bit about providing names of citizens who won tickets in contests but "(i)f it’s talking about board members or MLAs or Cabinet ministers, absolutely. I have no difficulty whatsoever providing that to you...

Somebody must have been spiking the coffee at the Winnipeg Free Press with truth serum this week. How else to explain the confessions that spilled out from reporters covering important beats, declarations that explain why the newspaper has become a worthless read. Legislature reporter Bruce Owen wrote Friday that Question Period, the meat and potatoes of his beat, bores him to tears. (Its) "a great time for me to catch up on email. That’s because, sitting up in the media perch, there’s not that much else to do." he said. "Other reporters check up on the Facebook profiles and one religiously plays BrickBreaker on his Blackberry. He’s gotten pretty good at it." Two days earlier, Owen's colleague, education reporter Nick Martin, made his own revelation on his little-read newspaper-sponsored blog. "I rarely attend board meetings anymore," he wrote. "It’s just not worth my time, or my employer’s time..." Oh? Doesn't the ...

And you wonder why we call Greg Selinger the dirtiest politician in Manitoba? It's getting so you can't turn over a rock in this province without finding Selinger scurrying away from under it. The latest scandal is how Selinger's wife got a cushy government job. She was, ahem, "appointed" by Selinger's colleagues in cabinet to be the assistant deputy minister of community planning and development, the little-known but powerful branch of provincial government that controls land development in Winnipeg and other municipalities. There's a word for hiring your family members --- nepotism. What's the word that describes hiring your friend's family member?.... Cronyism. It's not illegal, but it stinks. But by now the stench of scandal is so great around Selinger that nobody can notice the difference. James B. is one person who wouldn't be the least surprised to find how Selinger's cronies decided to line his fami...

We don't know who's more insulting, politician Andrew Swan or reporters Mike McIntyre and Gabrielle Giroday. But its clear that this trio is guilty of grossly misleading the public. The team of McIntrye and Giroday should have been collecting accolades for their revelation that the teenager charged with killing a motorist by smashing into him with a stolen Hummer was a car thief previously convicted of involvement in another car crash where a taxi driver was killed. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/accused-thief-has-a-dark-past-79392032.html Instead, by simply regurgitating the political lies of Justice Minister Andrew Swan, they negated their good work and deserve to share the disgrace. Their Wednesday story concluded with the obligatory search for a solution: "Attorney General Andrew Swan said provincial governments have been pushing Ottawa for changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act that would allow judges to take deterrence into account when sentencing young o...

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer sat stonefaced in the Legislature, staring at the raving man who stood beside him. The man was bellowing at the top of his lungs, his arms flailing, spit flying from his mouth. It was three days ago. Doer watched as the madman ranted on and on, and the lame-duck premier counted the minutes until he could walk away from this madhouse to the sanity of a diplomatic posting in Washington. But we don't have that option. For that lunatic in the Legislature was none other than Manitoba Attorney General Dave Chomiak. What set off his bout of carpet-chewing was a demand from the Opposition for him to table his promised new gang strategy or resign. Thursday, he rolled out his gang strategy. He should have resigned instead. His much touted NEW gang strategy turned out to be a cut-and-paste job of every "new" gang strategy the NDP has trotted out in the past decade. The cornerstone of Chomiak's new strategy dates back seventy years --- a list of Public ...

A group of about 30 people marched from the North End to the Legislature yesterday. There wasn't a university egghead in the bunch. Nor could you find a single Indian Chief or Nahanni Fontaine or any of the usual hate-the-police crowd who claim to speak for native people. That's because the message the marchers brought to the politicians wasn't the message being peddled in Manitoba's universities or newspapers or by racial demagogues in the aboriginal community. It was the direct opposite of the "special report" prepared by leftwing university professors for the attention of Attorney General Dave Chomiak , which embraced the "wisdom" of members of a violent street gang who said authorities should end a crackdown on gangs and concentrate on ending poverty. The residents of the North End who made the long march didn't carry signs saying "End Poverty". Their message was "Stop the Violence." And it was directed at those same gang ...