Interim leader Kevin Friesen understands why the Keystone Party of Manitoba is perceived as far right-of-centre..“The parties in Manitoba have moved so far to the left that everybody’s going to see us as a rightwing party..“We like to call ourselves centre,” Friesen told Western Standard..He’d like to clear up a misconception promoted by left-wing professors some media tend to breathlessly run to for biased opinion. .“We’ve been labelled as an unvaccinated, anti-mask party and that’s totally wrong.”.Another thing, Keystone is not affiliated with the federal People’s Party of Canada..“We we’re getting confused with the PPC and we didn’t want that to happen.”.For some, the confusion stemmed from both party logos sporting the color purple..So then, what is Keystone all about?.“This is a true grassroots party. Everyone says they want to be grassroots, but nobody’s been that yet. That’s our real focus..“The real problem is that the accountability from our leaders isn’t being respected. We need someone who is more transparent, more accountable. We’ve always looked for honesty and that seems to be an impossible thing to find in politics nowadays. I hope that’s something that we can bring to the province..“We need to create a stronger, united Manitoba. But most importantly, we would lead our province and not rule it.”.Now that’s a refreshing concept for Manitobans who got bitterly fed up with the iron-fisted approach of former premier Brian Pallister, a.k.a. dictator..Although his replacement, Premier Heather Stefanson, promised a change in management style and a more “collaborative approach,” she has yet to convince Manitobans — who call her as ‘Pallister in a dress’ or ‘Pallister in pantyhose’ — that their voices will be heard..Reeves, mayors, business people, union leaders, indigenous leaders, and Manitobans from diverse backgrounds disenchanted with the Progressive Conservatives fiscal and COVID-19 policies are paying attention to and signing on with Keystone which got started in early 2021..“I’m the only farmer on the board,” says Friesen from south-central Manitou. .“We’re finding there are a lot of people from the extreme left, from the NDP and Liberal community, that are interested in what we’re doing and are signing our petition and are saying ‘We’ll support you.’.“It’s not only one area of Manitoba. We’re pretty spread out from Winnipeg to Brandon, north of Dauphin to Southern Manitoba.”.Several Keystone supporters started out backing Manitoba First, formerly the Manitoba Party, and “learned early on it was on a mission to be a top-down party.”.They explored trying to “fix the PC party from within,” but doubted that would work considering “what goes on behind closed doors,” said Friesen..Keystone is gearing up to field candidates in the 2023 provincial election. But first, it must gather the 2,500 signatures required to register as a political party..“It would be an awesome Christmas gift to be registered. We’d like to go to Elections Manitoba, not with 2,500 signatures, but 10,000 would be our goal.” .Keystone’s website promotes fiscal conservative policies and a reduction in the size of government..In an October 30 video address, Friesen took aim at the PC’s destructive COVID-19 measures. He stipulated Keystone was not formed because of these policies, rather because of the way they were developed and enforced..“This government has promised to deliver, but it has only mandated. It has stopped businesses from paying their bills to the point of bankruptcy..“It has divided marriages to the point of divorce and broken relationships of every friend, neighbour, and business partner to the point of tattle-taling and ultimately suicide.”.The immediate goal is to get registered. .“Then we’ll need to hold a leadership race. I’m not sure Kevin Friesen will be part of that race. The last step would be to have a convention and make sure we do exactly what the members want. We’re gathering a lot of information on what we think Manitobans want..“This party’s going to lead and not rule and we’re going to do that with integrity.”.One thing that sets Keystone apart from other parties now is the recall clause in its constitution..“The steering committee made a recall clause in the constitution to hold a leader in check. That creates a prolific new attitude in leadership. It changes the whole way a leader of a party leads his or her team..“I don’t know of any other party in Manitoba that has a recall clause on their leader. That makes us 100% grassroots and different.”.Friesen knows new provincial parties start up all the time and get nowhere fast because they forget the grassroots..But he’s convinced, based on the growing and diverse support Keystone is gaining, that the PCs, NDP, and Liberals have something to be very concerned about..It’s possible. There is no question Manitoba voters are an increasingly disenchanted lot..Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
