WINNIPEG — Manitoba's Opposition Progressive Conservatives accused Premier Wab Kinew Friday of breaking a law that bans government advertising during election campaigns.
But the governing New Democrats said the complaint is off base because Kinew was acting as NDP leader, not as premier, and used party resources.
Tory Leader Obby Khan pointed to a recent social media post in which Kinew talks about next week's byelection in the Spruce Woods constituency in western Manitoba and touts a promise to improve a section of Highway 2 in the area.
Khan filed a complaint with the province's elections commissioner, Bill Bowles, alleging the Instagram post violates a section of the Election Financing Act that forbids the government from promoting its programs or activities during an election campaign.
"The premier is using his office to influence voters in Spruce Woods," Khan told reporters, adding that the premier has publicly funded staff that help run his social media accounts.
The NDP said Kinew followed the law, which allows all party leaders to make promises.
"No government resources were used," NDP cabinet communications director Amy Tuckett-McGimpsey said.
Kinew's social media post repeated a campaign promise that had been made earlier by the NDP candidate in the byelection.
Khan said Kinew's Instagram account has been used for a mixture of government and personal business, and government-hired staff have helped the account grow and gain followers.
"Government resources are intimately and directly linked to this account," Khan wrote in his complaint letter.
Section 92 of the Election Financing Act says government departments and Crown agencies must not advertise or publish any information about their programs or activities during an election campaign. There are a small number of exceptions that include matters of public safety and items currently before the legislature, such as a budget.
Elections commissioner Bill Bowles has fielded previous complaints that a government was promoting its programs during an election campaign.
In 2011, the Manitoba Liberal Party alleged that then-premier Greg Selinger broke the law by announcing an after-school program in the weeks before a provincial election. Bowles cleared Selinger and ruled the program was an NDP campaign promise, not a government program.
Spruce Woods is a longtime Tory stronghold that has been vacant since March, when Grant Jackson resigned his seat to run federally. The governing New Democrats are riding high in provincewide opinion polls and are expressing optimism about a potential upset after winning another longtime Tory seat — the Tuxedo constituency in Winnipeg — in a byelection last year.
The Tories have chosen Colleen Robbins, a longtime party volunteer, for the byelection race. Polling day is Tuesday.
The NDP have nominated Ray Berthelette, who recently worked as an executive assistant to cabinet minister Glen Simard, while the Liberals have selected Stephen Reid, a teacher in Brandon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2025
Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
