Lagging in polls, Manitoba's premier appears to be choosing safe legislative agenda, observers say

Premier Heather Stefanson's legislative agenda has so far been rather modest, political observers say. 

In the spring sitting of the Manitoba Legislature, her Progressive Conservative government has introduced 26 pieces of legislation up to this point — but the proposed changes are hardly impactful to many people, one expert said.

"The number of bills that are major bills that would have a big impact within Manitoba are hard to find," said Paul Thomas, a professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

"They just are not bills that will evoke a lot of controversy within society."

And maybe that's a relief for the Tories after the tumultuous end to Brian Pallister's tenure as premier, Thomas reasons. The former premier liked to say his legislative agenda was "bold," but it also proved unpopular. After Pallister resigned from office last year, his former colleagues scrapped five of his bills, including the controversial plan to transform the school system.

The bills that Stefanson introduced this spring "may be all part of a broad legislative strategy of trying to turn down the temperature and create more of a sense that this is a government that listened to the public," Thomas said.

There are bills with seemingly broad appeal, such as permitting the use of electronic vote counting machines for provincial elections and providing more detailed budget information.

One piece of legislation, if passed, will develop a code of conduct for police officers and give people more time to file complaints with the Law Enforcement Review Agency. There are concerns these measures don't go far enough, but they are seen by some people as progress.

Meanwhile, a few bills are a little contentious, such as reversing the pesticide ban on some lawns and setting electricity rates several years at a time, rather than annually.

But overall, the Progressive Conservatives are not making waves in a major way, said Curtis Brown, a pollster at Probe Research. 

"I think setting a safe course may not be the most exciting thing, but I think that is kind of, in some ways, what she was promising to do," Brown said.

He's referring to Stefanson's campaign to take over the PC leadership in which she promised a more collaborative approach to government. She vowed to listen to what Manitobans want, which may have prohibited any massive, wholesale changes from happening immediately, Brown said.

"If you're on the one hand saying, 'I'm going to listen,' and then on the other hand you're saying, 'I'm going to make this big, radical change or do this big thing' — those two things don't really go together," he said.

So far, her collaborative approach hasn't appeared to turn her party's fortunes around.