Yes Judy Manning it IS personal!

It is very personal for Pat and Kim Dunphy. 

Empathy is a word that Judy Manning uses frequently. It rolls off the unelected Minister's tongue as easy as the words Good Morning.

Well the morning is anything but good for the people Ms. Manning left behind to catapult from relative public obscurity to a high-powered seat in the Paul Davis government.

I have received permission this morning to relate what happened to Pat Dunphy last night. Mr. Dunphy is the gentleman you may recall featured on a CBC story last week. Press HERE to see the story.

I was in contact with Pat and his wife Kim this morning after learning that Pat took a fall last night. In their words "he was on his way to bed, I (Kim) was already gone to bed. He (Pat) had to get out of wheelchair because house is not accessible. He was dragging himself to the room walking holding onto the walls and he collapsed onto the rail of his bed bounced and hit the wall and landed on the floor."

"I (Kim) could hear something crunch I had to lift him (Pat) from the floor to the bed and undress him for bed he went into a seizure after the fall... His spinal cord is over 50% cut - he can walk but the neurosurgeon does not advise it".

Pat went on to tell me that,  "...he (Pat) had a lamininectomy so he has no bones to protect the outside of his spinal cord - so if he hits that area he will die".

Pat and Kim describe his initial injuries this way:  "initial cervical spine injury, quadriplegia, disc protrusion, 50%compromise of spinal cord, cervical myelopathy,progressive myelopathy,

spinal stenosis"

Further they say, "he has had surgeries anterior cervical disectomy and fusion and spinal decompression,laminectomy and fusion". 

So this couple went through another horrific night and morning - something that has happened many times in the 20 years since his workplace injury. 

Ms. Manning did not complete this review as a Commissioner of the WHSCRD - as she left to take her place at the Davis Cabinet table. 

Empathy Ms. Manning? Really Ms. Manning? While you and your colleague Tony Cornect - Minister responsible for the WHSC - were looking for votes in CBS - Pat was still waiting. These are people who needed your decision to move forward. 

Ms. Manning must understand that she had responsibilities - and that these were life-altering responsibilities. The Minister should not have walked away from that until those duties were fulfilled.

If the unelected Minister does not consider this an abrogation of responsibilities - then I fail to see how Manning can assure the people she will not do the same as Attorney General or Minister of Justice. 

Election day is today in CBS - we should remember what Cornect and Manning were doing while Pat and Kim Dunphy suffered through another day. 

Manning playing gender card

If Judy Manning is trying to impress the public with her skills - she is failing.

To date we have a "superior work ethic" that has been alleged by the Premier but not proven.

We have "extensive legal experience" that has not been backed up by demonstrated work.

Now Ms. Manning is playing the gender card. That is not a card that one should use so cavalierly. There are real situations where women are discriminated against - this is not one of them.

She is a lawyer - yet she is doing her profession a disservice if what she calls responsible public scrutiny - "character assassination". There is zero evidence that this is the case.What has been reported has been accurate and if that information causes Ms. Manning to believe that she is seen in an unfavourable light - then she should take time and reflect herself.

The latest interview with Ms. Manning by David Cochrane highlights what appears to be a pattern for the unelected Minister. According to the CBC On Point story - Ms. Manning contends "that she was surprised by the focus of the interview, thinking it would be about general delays in the system and not her role as review commissioner." However the story goes on to say: the Oct. 24 email from CBC asking for the interview stated this: “I am working on a story about Minister Manning's previous role with the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Review Division (WHSCRD). My specific areas of inquiry are the number of cases she handled in that role, the number of reports she filed, and what happens to cases she did not complete.”

Then there is this quote in the story: “Did I break the system in the three months that I heard hearings? No. I have great empathy for the people that are going through this process, and I understand the frustration that’s emerged with the delays, but am I the author of those delays? Absolutely not”

Notwithstanding Ms. Manning's misrepresentation of the focus of the interview - she goes on to say she has great empathy for the people going through the process. Empathy defined as the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions : the ability to share someone else's feelings. This itself is questionable as it was Ms. Manning who walked away from the files to take an unelected position in the Davis Cabinet. It was Ms. Manning's resignation from the WHSCRD that has caused the delay for these people.

Here we are today - and Ms.Manning is going to haul out the gender card and seek empathy for herself from women who truly face discrimination in the workplace. The questions that are asked of Ms. Manning is appropriate scrutiny of any person who is an unelected Minister. It is unusual for Ministers to be unelected and as such these exceptional circumstances require exceptional scrutiny - replacing what would normally be electoral scrutiny. Further as Ms.Manning refuses to run in any of the three by-elections called or anticipated - she demonstrates a sense of entitlement and arrogance - hardly a just comparison with the injured workers left to wait for decisions on basic human needs.

I now have to look at why Ms. Manning has chosen to throw out an unsubstantiated claim of possible gender discrimination. My take is that Ms. Manning may be playing the card now in an effort to thwart off what will be a continued and justified volley of criticism in the House of Assembly - as Question Period proceeds without her. Perhaps Ms. Manning is putting it out there so people will relate probing in the House of Assembly as the Opposition members - picking on a woman.

None of Ms. Manning's protestations to date are becoming of a Minister of Justice and Attorney General - it has nothing to do with being a woman.

It is time for Ms. Manning to resign - or in the alternative run in one of the three upcoming by-elections.

Perhaps the greatest criticism of the Manning appointment should fall at the desk of Premier Paul Davis. Ms. Manning was chosen by Mr. Davis - to date he has not successfully justified his choice - his call - his decision.