The remarkable journey of Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and his rise to becoming Canada’s most popular provincial leader
The pull to weigh in on the political tragicomedy south of the border is strong. However, seeing that there is a daily cornucopia of wisdom and wisecracks already available, I’ll try not to join the frenzy. Here in Canada, we have our own worries with politicians (cough, Trudeau, cough) who don’t know when to quit.
Instead of kicking that dead horse, it’s time to look at how some of Canada’s provincial leaders are faring. Over the following four columns, I’ll examine the premiers from Manitoba to British Columbia.
Let’s start with the runaway star of the moment – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. One number tells the story: 66. Sixty-six percent. That’s the latest approval rating for Canada’s only First Nations premier and first Indigenous premier since Manitoba’s Métis Premier John Norquay in 1887. That makes him far and away the most popular premier in the country – a full 10 points ahead of runner-up Scott Moe of Saskatchewan.
 Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew with his wife, Lisa Monkman, and children. |
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Now, keep in mind that Kinew is in his first term as premier in a province that had come to hate his Progressive Conservative predecessors. Before her government was booted from office and replaced with Kinew’s NDP, Heather Stefanson had the lowest approval ratings of all provincial leaders, ranging from 21 to 28 percent.
So, you can argue that Kinew is still basking in the joy of sailing over a very low bar. Poor Stefanson inherited a poisoned chalice from the toxic Brian Pallister, who quit politics in September 2021 after it was revealed that he took a leisurely two-week trip to Costa Rica only days after his province formally began planning its emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yet, that doesn’t tell the full Kinew story: he is a remarkable person whose complicated life journey just happened to lead him into politics. He has been an author, hip-hop musician, broadcaster, and university administrator. In 2012, he started hosting the CBC show Eighth Fire, which ended with his father’s death from cancer. He wrote of the tumultuous year in his memoir, The Reason You Walk.
Kinew’s father, Tobasonakwut, was a political and spiritual leader for Aboriginal people in Canada. He had led a long journey full of anger. As a survivor of the residential school system, where many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, Tobasonakwut had graduated as an alcoholic, violent man. The anger and alcoholism were passed on to his son.
“I went out into the world as an angry young man in my high school and early university years,” Kinew told the CBC’s Shelagh Rogers. “I ended up getting into a lot of trouble. Not just mom-and-dad trouble, like real, legit, getting arrested trouble, for drinking and driving or getting into fights.”
In June 2003, RCMP charged Kinew with domestic assault related to allegations that he threw his then-girlfriend, Tara Hart, across a room during an argument. Kinew denied the claim, and the charges were eventually stayed, although the assault allegation would later come back to haunt him during his early political career.
He faced numerous charges related to alcohol abuse during those troubled years, including assault of a taxi driver, a DUI conviction for refusing a breathalyzer sample, and two breaches of court orders. He finally reached a turning point during one stay in jail. “I felt a presence beyond a human presence in the room and I decided, ‘Yeah, this ain’t me. I don’t know what I’m doing here.’”
Once out of jail, he said his mother talked to him and said, “’ What happened to you? This isn’t the boy that I raised.’” That year, he went to a four-day ceremony called Sundance and was made a chief. “They put the war bonnet on my head, the feathered headdress. It was a message clear as day to me, from the older generation, that it’s time for you to become a man.”
Kinew went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Manitoba, later pursuing a master’s degree in Indigenous governance. In 2016, now sober, he entered politics as a candidate in the provincial election. His run faced a scandal when misogynistic and homophobic comments he had posted on Twitter were discovered. He apologized for his past comments and went on to defeat Liberal Party leader Rana Bokhari in the Fort Rouge riding. He became NDP leader in 2017 and premier in 2023, with a campaign focused on healthcare reform.
Kinew’s popularity as premier can, in part, be explained by his determination to walk the talk. He promised to cut the provincial gas tax and did so. He authorized the costly and controversial search for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran in the Prairie Green landfill, two of four Indigenous women murdered by Jeremy Skibicki. He has earned accolades from other premiers for his performance as an ambassador for the province.
He is, in short, an extraordinary politician. But what is truly unique about Kinew is his story of redemption. He is not a sheltered middle-class white kid who was set on a career path through years in private schools. He is someone who has overcome extraordinary odds to emerge as a leader and a source of pride for not just the Indigenous community but for all Manitobans.
In his victory speech on the night he was elected premier, Kinew spoke of the importance of personal responsibility. “I was given a second chance in life and I would like to think that I made good on that opportunity,” he said. “My life became immeasurably better when I stopped making excuses and I started looking for a reason. And I found that reason in our family. I found that reason in our community. And I found that reason in our province and country.”
“So to young people out there who want to change your life for the better, you can do it. But here’s the thing: you have to want it.”
The honeymoon will no doubt end at some point for Kinew, as his ‘prairie-socialist’ government deals with the rough-and-tumble realities of budgeting with not enough money and too many needs. But his remarkable story has already made him a rock star in Canadian politics.
It is heartening to find a not-from-the-mould politician in an age when so few of our leaders hit the ethical mark. Kinew has emerged as a model of what a politician should be.
Doug Firby is an award-winning editorial writer with over four decades of experience working for newspapers, magazines and online publications in Ontario and western Canada. Previously, he served as Editorial Page Editor at the Calgary Herald.
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