Manitoba politicians race to pass bills as session wraps up

The Manitoba government was set to pass legislation Thursday night that would control the sale of government-funded housing projects, halt election communications fraud and prevent the silencing of whistleblowers.

Members of the legislative assembly had a busy schedule ahead of them on the last day of the legislative session.

Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville was on standby to grant royal assent to bills once they had passed, so they could become law, government house leader Nahanni Fontaine said.

“It’s a lot of work and potentially a very long night.”

She said the most crucial bill to be made into law is Bill 48, which allows authorities to hold a person who is extremely high for as long as 72 hours.

“Hands down, the most important piece of legislation that really sets Manitoba on a modern path in respect to how we deal with the folks who are intoxicated and keeping the public safe is obviously Bill 48,” Fontaine said.

The Protective Detention and Care of Intoxicated Persons Act replaces a law that limited detention to 24 hours.

Housing Minister Bernadette championed Bill 12, which prohibits the owner of a building that receives at least 15 per cent of construction funding from the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corp., to provide social housing, from selling or demolishing the building or using it for a different purpose without the corporation’s consent.

The bill, introduced in March, was one of five bills held over by the Tories until the fall. The rules allow the opposition to delay five bills to allow more time for review. The Progressive Conservatives said Thursday Bill 12 is a disincentive to building much-needed affordable housing.

“All of these people that might be building houses in the province are going to have to be in partnership with the government forever because of Bill 12,” PC housing critic Jeff Bereza said. “I don’t know a lot of businesses, for a minor stake like 15 per cent, that would want to be in business forever with this government.”

As the session wrapped up, the PCs blamed the government for rising inflation, food bank usage and consumer debt. The party was bouyed by a byelection win in Spruce Woods in August. Colleen Robbins won despite an all-out campaign by the NDP to snag a safe Tory seat in western Manitoba.

Another piece of legislation set to be passed is Bill 30, which was introduced in the spring and delayed by the Tories. It would prohibit deep fakes from being used in election campaigns and false election information and candidate statements from being published.

“It’s really important that we have a legislative framework in Manitoba that strengthens our democracy,” Fontaine said about the Election Financing Amendment and Elections Amendment Act.

“Everybody sees what’s occurring, unfortunately, down south,” she said, referring to the U.S., where election results have been denied.

The PCs said it includes election finance reforms that affect political donations and communications that must be transparent and fair to candidates and voters.

To protect whistleblowers, the government introduced the Public Interest Expression Defence Act (Bill 23), dubbed anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) legislation. It was held back by the Tories till the fall because they said it required more input from the legal community.

A SLAPP is a baseless or meritless lawsuit intended to intimidate, silence and harass people. Instead of winning the case, the person filing the SLAPP hopes to burden the defendant with the high costs and stress of filing a legal defence, hoping they will abandon their criticism or claim.

Another bill set to pass would prohibit new liquor service licences, such as the one approved for a Winnipeg 7-Eleven that allows it to serve alcoholic beverages for consumption in its dining area. The licence was approved under the former Tory government. The Tories held back the bill in the spring.

Bill 40, which removes God Save the King as an optional patriotic observance, was set to be made into law. It, too, was delayed for more study by the PCs who said it affects the “longstanding Canadian tradition recognizing our constitutional monarchy.”

In addition, two Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act bills were set to pass before the session ended, Fontaine said, however, the government didn’t expect to get its full set of bills passed.

One that would have required judges to weigh in any time the government invokes the notwithstanding clause to override rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was introduced late in the session and did not get to a vote.

Fontaine said Bill 50 will be reintroduced in the next session, which is slated to start Nov. 18.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca