Changes at Manitoba legislature could lead to crackdown on protests: Opposition
WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is transferring control over the legislature’s public rooms and outside grounds from government departments to the Speaker’s office — a move the Opposition New Democrats say is the start of a crackdown on public rallies and protests.
“I think that is clearly a step in trying to regulate and oppress the ability of Manitobans to gather on the legislative grounds for a myriad of different reasons,” New Democrat legislature member Nahanni Fontaine said Thursday.
“I think that it is so wholly disrespectful to Manitobans to try and limit their access … to what are grounds that belong to all Manitobans.”
The idea was first announced in the Progressive Conservative platform before the April 19 provincial election, and repeated recently in Premier Brian Pallister’s mandate letter to Justice Minister Heather Stefanson.