'Outright hostility' between Wab Kinew, Obby Khan unbecoming of their offices: experts

What should have been a relatively dry committee meeting in the Manitoba Legislature last month descended into a series of "low blows" between political leaders, with Premier Wab Kinew calling Opposition leader Obby Khan a "joke," while the Tory leader repeatedly called the premier a bully.

The heated exchange at an estimates meeting has been denounced as inappropriate behaviour by political experts who have observed Manitoba politics for decades.

They say the episode underscores the acrimony between the governing NDP and the Opposition Progressive Conservatives that derailed legislature business during the recently completed spring sitting.

The NDP threatened during the last week of the session to extend the sitting into the summer if the PCs wouldn't fast-track the government's interprovincial trade bill, while the Progressive Conservatives kept MLAs awake through the night on Monday, the last sitting day, when they demanded recorded votes on bills the NDP's majority government would certainly pass.

Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said there appears to be "deep-seated antagonism" between the party leaders. 

"When we see this banter and hostility — it's actual outright hostility — it's tough on Manitobans to see that," he said.

WATCH | Kinew and Khan trade barbs in charged committee meeting:

While aggressive, rigorous questioning of government and heckling are routine parts of question period in the legislature, the exchange between Kinew and Khan came at a May 21 estimates meeting, where more substantive exchanges around policy are expected and media attention is minimal.

And unlike question period, the Speaker of the House, whose duties include keeping the peace in the chamber, doesn't preside over meetings in the committee rooms. That meant the heckling and personal attacks at the estimates meeting persisted, with only the occasional interruption by the chairperson.

While these meetings can be charged — former premier Brian Pallister called Kinew an "asshole" during a 2021 committee meeting, before apologizing that same meeting — the behaviour in this case lasted for several minutes at a time.

Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said the discussion was "reduced to hurling personal insults at one another and ad hominem arguments based on the character of your political opponent across the aisle in the committee room."

"I just found it disappointing."

The estimates meeting began with Khan rattling off statistics that, he argued, demonstrated a slowing economy.

"All signs that this premier has officially killed the economic horse," said the PC leader, putting his spin on one of the premier's regular talking points: "the economic horse pulls the social cart."