The halls of the Manitoba Legislative Building are nothing new for Wab Kinew — he has, of course, served as an MLA since 2016 and opposition leader since 2017 — but Thursday was his first chance to survey his new digs as premier-designate.
Kinew met with outgoing premier Heather Stefanson Thursday at the legislature to discuss the next steps and the transition of power as the Manitoba NDP, which was elected Tuesday night with a majority mandate, prepares to form government.
“Things are going great,” Kinew told media. “It’s a new day in Manitoba and I just feel so honoured to be able to walk into the premier’s office here in Manitoba for the first time with a mandate from the people.”
Kinew said the meeting was an initial step in the weeks-long transition process before the NDP formally takes the reins of the province.
The premier-designate intends to bring the legislature back into session sometime next month, when a throne speech will occur. A specific date has yet to be announced, as some of the results from Tuesday night still need to be confirmed.
Kinew, whose party campaigned heavily on fixing the province’s health-care system, said his team will soon have their hands on all the information necessary to begin implementing changes.
“I think we had a clear contrast between the investments we want to make in health care and what the PCs had been doing.
“But the fact of the matter is the government has all the binders with all of the information about the health-care system in it, so of course, any insight they’re willing to share I’ll take seriously, … but always my number one group that I listen to are the people working on the front lines of our health-care system.”
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