Manitoba Liberals, NDP accuse Saskatchewan conservative group of election interference

Manitoba Liberals, NDP accuse Saskatchewan conservative group of election interference
Manitoba Liberals, NDP accuse Saskatchewan conservative group of election interference

Arabnews24.ca:Friday 9 June 2023 11:55 AM: Manitoba Liberals and New Democrats say a series of attack ads launched by a Regina-based political action committee with ties to Saskatchewan conservatives amounts to interference in the upcoming election in this province.

Both parties accuse Manitoba Progressive Conservatives of colluding with the extraprovincial group, while the NDP has filed two complaints with Elections Manitoba over what it claims are violations of rules governing third-party advertising.

The Canada Growth Council, a non-profit political action committee formed in 2019 to campaign against federal Liberal candidates, has taken out billboards in Winnipeg featuring Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"Can't afford these two? Imagine adding Kinew," reads the billboard ad.

The Canada Growth Council is also behind a mass-message campaign that sent images of attack ads as well as text messages to Manitoba phone numbers this week.

The ads compare Kinew's policies to those of Singh and Trudeau, claiming Kinew would distribute "free heroin and hard drugs for criminals" if elected Manitoba's premier on Oct. 3 and would also defund the police.

The text messages refer to Kinew as "a convicted criminal" and state the NDP leader is "in an alliance" with Singh and Trudeau.

"We can't afford four years of their woke policies that will lead to more crime, higher taxes and the NDP driving our economy into the ground ... just like last time!" reads the text messages. "We can't trust Wab, Justin and Jagmeet to run our province."

An ad comparing Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew's policies to those of federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Canada Growth Council, a federal entity based in Regina, has launched attack ads against the NDP in Manitoba prior to this province's election campaign. (Canada Growth Council)

Adrien Sala, the NDP MLA for St. James, called the ads disgusting and accused Manitoba PCs of working with the Canada Growth Council.

Current and past directors of the political action committee include former Saskatchewan Party officials, according to corporate records.

"Manitobans want free open and fair elections. Instead, what we're seeing is this big-money, third-party, out-of-province organization spending thousands and thousands of dollars on billboards and advertisements and they appear to be doing that illegally in partnership with the [Progressive] Conservative Party of Manitoba," Sala said Thursday in an interview.

CBC News reached out to the Canada Growth Council through the number provided in its text message but did not hear back. CBC News also left messages for company director Dale Richardson, a former Saskatchewan Party communications director, via phone, email and Twitter direct message.

Neither Manitoba's PC caucus nor the party itself are involved with the Canada Growth Council, PC caucus spokesperson Cameron Eason said in a statement.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said she too has no knowledge of any interaction between the PCs and the Canada Growth Council.

Stefanson said she received the text message but deleted it.

"I receive so many messages and it is what it is. I did not look at it one way or another," adding any entity can engage in free expression.

Saskatchewan group funds ads attacking Manitoba NDP

16 hours ago

Duration 2:34

CBC's Bartley Kives looks into recent ads that have popped up in Manitoba taking aim at NDP Leader Wab Kinew and his party in advance of October's provincial election.

According to Manitoba's Election Financing Act, there are rules governing third-party advertising this close to an election. As of June 7, third-party advertisers that spend more than $2,500 were required to register with Elections Manitoba, communications director Mike Ambrose said in an interview.

The Canada Growth Council's failure to do so constitutes a violation of that rule, charged NDP secretary Tim Johnson in a letter to elections commissioner Bill Bowles.

"Elections should be free, open and fair in our province. But a right-wing, out-of-province group funded by secret donors — persons and possibly corporation, both inside Canada and possibly abroad — is spending thousands of dollars to illegally interfere in Manitoba's elections in the legislatively defined pre-election period," Johnston wrote in the letter.

In a separate letter of complaint, Johnson alleged the PCs are working in concert with the Canada Growth Council, in contravention of a different section of Manitoba's Election Financing Act. Johnson makes that claim on the basis the Saskatchewan entity's website once belonged to the federal Conservative Party and former Conservative MP Candice Bergen is working on the Manitoba PC re-election campaign.

Sala repeated that claim but did not provide any evidence the PCs and the Canada Growth Council are working together.

Russian dolls, but with front groups

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, who first raised concerns about the Canada Growth Council during question period at the Manitoba Legislature on May 8, said it is highly unlikely there is no relationship between Manitoba conservatives and their counterparts in Saskatchewan.

"How is it an organization called the Canadian Growth Council in Saskatchewan has 20 years of opposition research on Manitoba NDP MLAs and has all the same talking points as the PCs?" Lamont asked in an interview.

"You know those Russian dolls where you take the lid off? It's basically that, but with conservative front groups."

Royce Koop, a University of Manitoba political studies professor, said consigning attack ads to a third party can be an effective strategy for a political party, especially since negative campaigning always comes with risks.

"There's no real danger of it hurting the premier if your campaign can demonstrate there's distance between them and the people making the attacks," Koop said in an interview.

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