Your MLAs are acting like kids

Morning from the Hub of the North — here's what matters in Thompson today.

You ever watch Question Period and just shake your head? The Manitoba Legislature is supposed to be where serious decisions get made for places like Thompson, but lately, it feels more like a schoolyard scrap. Premier Wab Kinew and Speaker Tom Lindsey are now going back and forth over a new rule banning MLAs from calling each other certain names in the chamber. Lindsey put this in place after months of constant heckling and name-calling, but Kinew says the Speaker is "wrong" to ban words like "racist" or "transphobic" if they're relevant.

It’s a mess, plain and simple. We've got real issues up here – like the challenges our healthcare system faces, or making sure the University College of the North has the resources it needs. When MLAs are more concerned with lobbing insults across the floor than addressing what matters to northern communities, it’s a problem. This isn't just about decorum; it's about whether our elected officials are focused on the work or just playing politics.

### What This Means for Thompson

* **Distraction from real issues:** While they argue about name-calling, discussions on critical northern infrastructure or economic diversification for communities like ours get pushed to the back burner.

* **Trust erodes:** When the people we elect can't even maintain a basic level of respect, it makes you wonder how seriously they take their jobs, and us.

* **Representation suffers:** Our concerns, whether it's about Vale operations or the future of the cold-weather testing industry, need clear, focused advocacy, not infighting.

We need our representatives to be focused on solutions, not schoolyard squabbles. The people in Thompson, across Mystery Lake and beyond, deserve better than politicians who can’t even manage basic civility.

Marla Spence, MiTL Sports Desk, Thompson.

The morning crew on Thompson Today really digs into this stuff — catch their take live at mornings.live.