The days when a Manitoba premier could ride a bicycle to work alone and unworried about their security seem like a long time ago.
In the decade since Greg Selinger took a two-wheel commute from his home to the stately legislature in Winnipeg, security has been beefed up as concerns about threats faced by politicians grew.
Wab Kinew, elected premier in 2023, is followed by security inside the legislature and when he’s out at public events and press conferences. He is driven in a large vehicle with someone always at his side.
“It’s definitely an adjustment to go from what life was like prior to the election to my reality today, which is I’m never alone,” Kinew said in a year-end interview, adding political staff are almost always present.
Kinew wouldn’t discuss specifics of his security and said his interactions with the public have been overwhelmingly positive.
Kelvin Goertzen, a veteran politician who spent several years in cabinet and two months in the premier’s chair in 2021, recalled in a recent interview that he had some tense moments.
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“There have been times, at sporting events for example, where I would say that people came up and were unnecessarily aggressive and my family was involved in some of those,” Goertzen said.
“I’ve experienced that at Costco … in a grocery line. We’ve had people approach our home. It doesn’t happen frequently, thankfully, but it doesn’t have to happen often until you feel you need to take some degree of precaution.”
Security at the legislature has been tightened in stages over the years. Metal detectors have been installed, some entrances and exits have been closed off, and visitors are less free to roam around inside.
The large steps outside the front entrance were protected after a man tried to drive a vehicle up them in 2021. Following COVID-19 protests that blocked the main entrance to the legislature grounds, a security guard now checks all vehicles entering the area.
There are more security measures being considered, such as a perimeter fence around the grounds of the lieutenant-governor’s residence, east of the legislature.
Funding for security at Manitoba politicians’ constituency offices has also been increased. Police were called to one politician’s office in 2022 after staff reported being threatened by a man who walked in.
The cost of some security measures is unclear.
The Canadian Press applied under Manitoba’s freedom of information law for the total cost of the security detail for the premier and cabinet. The information was withheld under the law’s exemptions related to public safety and law enforcement.
Tensions have dropped since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Goertzen said, although things are unlikely to fully return to the way they once were.
Threats and intimidation can end up making politicians less accessible to the public, he said.
“Over time you get less accessibility, and that’s harmful for democracy in the long run.”
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