MANITOBA ELECTION PROMISES Yes for tourism dollars. Maybe on Pride Celebrations

Posted on 04/07/2016 | About Manitoba

Manitoba's Progressive Conservatives are promising to spend more money to promote tourism if they form the next provincial government. Leader Brian Pallister says his party would spend $28 million over five years to better market Manitoba.  

Pallister says Manitoba lags behind Saskatchewan, which spends just over $7 million a year on tourism investment. 

He couldn't say exactly what the money would be spent on or who a campaign would target. Pallister says he would consult with the industry to come up with a strategy. When he was asked if he would follow the lead of NDP Premier Greg Selinger and participate in Pride celebrations,  the Conservative leader said he would have to check his schedule. 

But Pallister, who once called same-sex marriage “a social experiment” says he's now open to participating in pride celebrations if he is elected Manitoba premier. Pallister's office couldn't say whether he has ever attended the festivities since becoming Opposition leader four years ago. “I'm not adverse to doing that,” he said when asked Wednesday “I was advocating in the 1980s for equal benefits for same-sex couples, so I don't need lessons from Premier Selinger in that category at all.” Pallister said he wasn't the only one to call same-sex marriage a “social experiment” when he was an MP in 2005, so he doesn't feel he has to build bridges with the gay and lesbian community. 

The New Democrats say they will appoint a minister responsible for LGBTQ issues - what they are calling a first in Canada - if the party is re-elected. Pallister said he would not have a similar person around his cabinet table. “I don't think it's necessary or helpful,” he said. “The NDP has created a massive upper-level of bureaucracy in our province that everybody below it resents.” Jonathan Niemczak, president of Pride Winnipeg, said the LGBTQ community would welcome having a minister who could be a point-person for issues of concern. 

But the position would be meaningless unless those concerns were acted upon, he said. Manitoba voters cast their ballots on April 19.