Former premier Brian Pallister has portrait unveiled in Manitoba legislature

The family of a Winnipeg man who died after an interaction with police is calling for change. CTV's Daniel Halmarson reports.

Former premier Brian Pallister was joined by colleagues and friends on Thursday as his official portrait was unveiled at the Manitoba Legislative Building.

The painting depicts Pallister standing along the Assiniboine River near the community of High Bluff, with a sunset stretching across the background. He said he visited the location—about a mile and a half from his family’s farm—with a photographer whose work Canadian artist Andrew Valko later used as a reference for the portrait.

Pallister noted it is the first official portrait of a Manitoba premier set outdoors, adding that the river holds special meaning for him as it connects the three cities where he lived and studied—Winnipeg, Brandon, and Portage la Prairie.

“It’s hard to believe a scrawny kid from a small farm west of Portage la Prairie becoming the premier of Manitoba and having a portrait here; it’s a pretty great honour,” he said.

Pallister, who served as the 22nd premier from 2016 to 2021, said he’s taking time in retirement to travel, read history books, and focus on his health.

“It’s like getting off a 150-mile-an-hour train and jumping on some solid land and hoping you land with equilibrium and balance,” he said.

When asked about Manitoba’s current state, the 71-year-old said he now occupies a nonpartisan role. “So, there are some things I’d like to say that I probably shouldn’t—and won’t,” he said.

“I do think Manitoba remains a tremendously welcoming province for people to come here, to settle, to grow, build their families. I’d like to see more of that done,” he added.

Pallister also said he’d like to see continued encouragement for small businesses in the province, which he described as the key to economic growth.

He characterized his return to the legislature as “kind of a reunion,” noting that 13 of the 14 special assistants and office managers he worked with over his three decades in public office were in attendance. The one absence, he added, was due to a child’s hockey playoff game.

“It’s a flood of memories, good memories,” said PC MLA Kelvin Goertzen, who served in multiple cabinet positions during the Pallister government and succeeded him after his resignation.

“There’s something unique about watching people come together who haven’t been together for a while, but who had a shared experience, and who went through challenging times together and through positive times together.”

Goertzen said the former premier was always determined and knew what he wanted to achieve.

Pallister was first elected as a PC MLA for Portage la Prairie in 1992, a role he held until 1997. He then went on to serve as the region’s Member of Parliament from 2000 to 2008.

In 2012, he was elected in the constituency of Fort Whyte and as leader of the PC Party. He went on to secure two consecutive majority governments—the first achieving a modern-era record with 40 of 57 legislative seats—and retained his party’s stronghold seat until his resignation.

He signed trade deals with other provinces and focused on creating job opportunities, describing his government’s record Thursday as “one of integrity.”

Pallister faced controversy over changes to the health-care system that involved emergency room closures in Winnipeg, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the PCs fell sharply in the opinion polls.

Goertzen said Pallister equated the pandemic to war and that the leader remained optimistic that the province was going to get through it.

“I’ve always felt that it was important to transition out of the active spotlight when one leaves premiership or other leadership positions, and I’ve done that,” Pallister said.

“Not that I don’t have opinions and views, but I just don’t share them publicly. I may start again sometime, but not right now.”

With files from The Canadian Press