On October 3 Manitobans will go to the polls to elect a new Premier — Heather Stefanson, Wab Kinew or Dougald Lamont. Some may wonder how they will engage and interact with the faith community in the province. I asked them five questions about that. Stefanson and Lamont sent e-mail responses; Kinew made himself available for an interview. Their answers were published in the Free Press on Sept. 25. (Although excluding one question due to space concerns.) Their complete answers are below.
Many places of worship are involved in meeting various needs in their
communities. What will you do as Premier to recognize
and support the efforts of Manitoba faith groups to serve the most vulnerable
and others in the province? Could you see the provincial government doing more to partner with faith
groups to address social issues in Manitoba?
Wab Kinew. One of the commitments I’ve made is we want to end chronic homelessness in Manitoba. One of the first things we have to do is bring together everyone who is working in this space to set up a shared mission and vision to end chronic homelessness. I would very much want to include faith groups, churches, mosques and other spiritual organizations, who are already doing some of this kind of work but also the faith-guided institutions, not for profits in the space, that have spirituality as part of their mandate. I would want them at the table when we set up a working group to work towards ending chronic homelessness and also meeting the needs of the most vulnerable when it comes to providing food, sustenance and also help with addictions, to help them turn their lives around. Financial support would be part of the discussion after first bringing people together to conduct a needs assessment to see what the following steps would need to be.
Heather Stefanson: As Premier, I am always amazed by the compassion and selfless dedication of so many people of faith throughout our province. Our Progress Conservative team is recognizing the extraordinary contributions of Manitoba’s faith communities by nearly doubling the charitable donation tax credit, meaning that Manitobans who give to their local church, mosque, or temple, will receive 20 per cent back on the first $200 donated and 25 per cent back on all donations over $200.
Our party believes that Manitoba’s diverse faith communities are dynamic and can be far more responsive to community needs as they arise than even government bureaucracies. We can learn so much from faith communities about how to make our province safer and healthier, and we will continue to explore creative partnerships with faith leaders to make our province a better place for all Manitobans.
Dougald Lamont: Manitoba Liberals are committed to working with all Manitobans and all stakeholders regardless of faith. We recognize that our most important public institutions—our hospitals, our places of learning like universities and colleges, were all originally places founded on faith.
There is a tremendous amount of positive work that is done by faith groups, and Manitoba Liberals would be willing to work with them to ensure the needs of the community are being served, whether it is helping the vulnerable, providing training, or doing good work.
A big concern for Jews and Muslims in Manitoba is antisemitism and Islamophobia. What will you do as Premier to address and combat those things and support the local Jewish and Muslim communities and help people from those communities feel safe?
Kinew: The first step is, as a leader, you have a responsibility to speak out when there is hatred in the community. When there are examples of Islamophobia and antisemitism, to condemn them and speak publicly about unity and bringing Manitobans together from all backgrounds to pursue our shared vision as a province.
I think it goes beyond that to the education system. I know there is a lot of good work being done by educators to teach about human rights and Holocaust education. But I think as part of the work to update Manitoba school curricula we should be including these conversations about hatred, and ensure we are helping all young Manitobans to embrace a spirit of inclusions.
I would certainly reach out to Jewish and Muslim groups to see what they can offer, and also to educators to ensure their expertise is counted on as we try to share these messages that can break down barriers between communities. I’ve been lucky in my time in politics so far to have had invitations to attend mosques in the wake of examples of Islamophobia so I can learn, so I can hear. I’ve been very honoured to have a chance to build a strong relationship with people in the Jewish community, which has included those conversations about antisemitism and responding to acts of hatred that we need to come together to combat.
If I get the chance to serve as premier, I would want to strengthen those relationships even further to carry on the work through leading the province in building relationships across communities.
Stefanson: Our Progressive Conservative team stands with Manitoba’s Jewish and Muslim communities, and we stand against antisemitism and Islamophobia in our province. Last year, our Progressive Conservative government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. The definition helps our entire province to remain extremely vigilant in identifying and addressing antisemitism throughout Manitoba. It will help us to fight back against the alarming rise in antisemitic incidents in our province and our country.
Similarly, our entire PC team stands against islamophobia. Last year, Manitobans elected Obby Khan, our PC candidate in Fort Whyte, as the first Muslim to serve as a member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly. He has been outspoken about the importance of faith in his life, and he will continue to be our leader in government when it comes to addressing islamophobia in all its forms.
Lamont: We recognize that some faith communities and their members face terrible treatment for no other reason that they are members of their faith. They are subject to discrimination and mistreatment based on myths and conspiracy theories that are harmful.
Manitoba is a province founded on the basis of religious and linguistic diversity, and we need to live up to those principles.
Manitoba Liberals obtained a unanimous vote of the legislature,
defending Jews against antisemitism with a resolution confirming the IHRA
definition of antisemitism. Dr. Jon Gerrard, MLA River Heights, was
instrumental in bringing it forward. We also recognize the critical need to
ensure that similar resolutions condemning hatred and discrimination towards
Muslims.
A challenge facing some is what to do with aging church buildings. Is there anything the province can do to help these groups maintain and utilize these old church buildings so they continue to serve the community?
Kinew: There are a lot of good examples across province of using old church buildings. In my constituency, you have St. Augustine which has embraced childcare and serving in vulnerable people in our community and offering space for dance and cultural purposes. Across from the legislature you have All Saints, which has helped to set up affordable and market-based housing.
There’s a ton of examples of congregations across the province working with local community organizations and others in the community to meet the needs. The role of the province should be to convene and help foster those collaborations and to identify where support is needed.
Based on what I am seeing across Manitoba, these sorts of collaborations on older church buildings can be an important part of our future childcare and housing solutions, community centres. The province should definitely be willing to support that both in terms of people power and infrastructure resources.
Stefanson: As Premier, I don’t want to see any churches shut
their doors. I am committed to working with our faith leaders to ensure that
people of faith can continue their wonderful work throughout Manitoba. Last
year, our Progressive Conservative government doubled funding for the Building
Sustainable Communities Fund to $25 million, and this year doubled funding for
the Art, Sport, and Culture in Community Fund to $100 million. These funds have
helped hundreds of non-profits, including faith-based organizations, improve
their buildings and spaces so they can continue to provide vitally important
services in our communities.
Our party is committed to continuing this support for community organizations, and we welcome adaptive reuse proposals, such as Augustine Centre, which has transformed a historic church into a community asset that includes a daycare, social services, and programming spaces.
Lamont: There are several ways they could be repurposed and maintained. We have announced a $300 million Green Fund that allows for energy retrofits, as well as a jobs fund that would provide job subsidies for non-profits for people who do work in the public good and for the community. There are also spaces required for childcare. Under the current system only 60 per cent of early learning and childcare upgrades and renovations are covered, and we are proposing covering 100 per cent of the costs.
While is it not part of our platform, we would also be willing to explore working with stakeholders to create a trust to help preserve and keep up historic buildings in Manitoba.
Through parish nursing, places of worship invite retired nurses or doctors to serve the healthcare needs of people in their congregations. The goal is help people, especially seniors, stay in their homes longer and get basic medical services to keep them out of the healthcare system. Would your government be open to exploring the potential of parish nursing as a way to partner with faith groups to help meet the healthcare needs of Manitobans?
Kinew: The concept of parish nursing strikes me as a great opportunity to implement preventative medicine and community-based care. It offers the potential to have a setting where seniors and other members of the community are already comfortable, an opportunity to reach out to those folks in that setting and provide some prevention, some pro-active care, so we can maybe prevent issues from becoming more serious in the future, or just provide them with a better quality of life. I find it an interesting idea that’s worthy that we should definitely be open to supporting.
Stefanson: Parish nursing is an innovative way to meet the health care needs of elderly parishioners, and it can have a positive impact on the overall health care system through preventative community care. I am thrilled to see nurses contribute to their church communities in this way, and I am certainly open to working with nurses, faith leaders, and parishioners to expand these services in Manitoba.
Lamont: Parish nursing is an intriguing concept. One of its most important aspects is that it is out in the community, where it should be. The central core of our health care platform is to focus on better community care — ensuring that every person has a family physician or nurse practitioner. In addition to that, however, we want to focus on providing wraparound supports in a clinic. We will enhance pay for family doctors so they can spend more time with patients when needed and ensure that team members are paid for working together (which they are not now).
Our goal is to have more wraparound community clinics providing primary care. We would also hire nurse practitioners to work in PCHs.
Winnipeg’s Mayor has created a new multi-faith and culture liaison circle to address societal issues such as homelessness, hunger, and inequity. Would you as Premier be open to creating such a province-wide circle to address those issues and ensure faith voices are heard on a provincial basis?
Kinew: I think I would be
open to that. I would want to include some of these leaders and voices who work
on chronic homelessness in Manitoba, as well as to take into account some of
these folks when we’re thinking about the appointments governments make to
boards and committees and Crown corporations.
Stefanson: As Premier, I have met with diverse faith communities throughout Manitoba, and I continue to meet regularly with faith leaders. Moreover, our PC Team includes people of diverse faith traditions, and I hear regularly from them about the issues that matter to their communities. I am always open to listening to Manitobans with new suggestions about how to engage more deeply and effectively with Manitoba’s incredible faith communities.
Lamont: Yes, we would absolutely be willing to work with the leaders of diverse faith and cultural groups in order to listen to their concerns and respond and change as needed. In the aftermath of the pandemic, there is a great degree of mistrust and division, and our social fabric has been frayed and broken. This is a time for community-building. Manitoba Liberals, as a foundational principle, believe that government must serve everyone.
Anything else to add? This includes if you want to say anything about your own faith background or interest in spiritual matters.
Kinew: I’m a spiritual person. I follow the Anishinaabe tradition. I start each day with a prayer, even before I have my morning cup of coffee. I try to get up before the sun and spend some time praying. I’ve been very moved over the month of campaigning to hear from many Manitobans from many walks of life who have taken the time to pray for us, to pray for our team that we be well and travel safely and are able to move forward in a good way. It’s been really meaningful on a human level, taking time to share with us their faith, their beliefs to send us a positive message through prayer.
Lamont: It is hard to understate the impact of the faith community on the development of Manitoba and its most important institutions, while recognizing that Winnipeg has always had an extraordinary level of cultural and religious diversity. The foundational principle of being a liberal is the belief in the rights and freedoms of the individual, and the recognition that every living, breathing person is entitled to equal access to those rights, freedom and justice, by virtue of being human.
Heather Stefanson did not provide an answer to this question.
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