Read the original post by Tom Brodbeck

I saw one of the best examples of government run-around last week.

And, ironically, it was a politician getting the shaft.

It wasn’t a government politician, though, which explains why he was getting the run-around.

It was Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, just a lowly member of the opposition.

He wanted information about erosion along Lake Winnipeg. So he went cabinet minister hopping last week, going from one legislative committee meeting to the next searching for the appropriate minister.

He thought he finally got the right one when he came upon Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick’s committee late last week.

Jon Gerrard may as well have asked Laurel and Hardy
for answers on river erosion.

Here’s how it went:

“My first question for the Minister of Water Stewardship concerns the situation of the problem of erosion along the Winnipeg River,” Gerrard asked. “This is close to the outlet into Lake Winnipeg.

“I initially asked about this to the Minister of Northern and Aboriginal Affairs (Mr. Lathlin), and he told me that the lead minister on this file was the Minister of Conservation (Mr. Struthers). I then asked the Minister of Conservation in Estimates and he said he was not the lead minister, and he referred me initially to the Minister responsible for Hydro and then to yourself. I had the opportunity to ask the Minister of Finance (Mr. Selinger), who’s also the minister of Hydro, in Estimates whether he was the lead minister on this file and he said no.”

“So my question to you, after searching around and asking several other ministers, are you the lead minister on the file dealing with this problem of erosion in the area of Sagkeeng First Nation along the Winnipeg River near the outlet to Lake Winnipeg?”

A clueless Melnick had no idea if river erosion was in her bailiwick and she had to huddle with her bureaucrats to find out.

After about two minutes of consultation, Melnick declared that she was the right minister for river erosion — well, sort of. Just as Gerrard was getting his hopes up, Melnick went on to lecture the Liberal leader that he really should be talking to the feds.

I had never seen Laurel and Hardy live before.