6 years after leaving politics, former premier Greg Selinger honoured with portrait at Manitoba Legislature

Former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger was surrounded by family, supporters and former colleagues Tuesday as his portrait was unveiled at the legislature.

It was a rare occasion in the spotlight for Selinger, who has kept a low public profile since leaving politics in 2018 two years after his New Democrats were defeated by the Progressive Conservatives.

The painting, which will hang in a hallway next to the portraits of his predecessors, depicts Selinger on the front porch of his home, holding a quilt made by his wife.

He said the choice of location was deliberate.

"There's that old expression 'all politics are local,' so you start from your front door every morning. You step out the front door and you make the best of every day," Selinger said.

The quilt is a metaphor for how to live with individual pieces, like people, coming together to create something better, he said.

Selinger had a nearly 30-year career in politics, afterfirst being elected to Winnipeg city councilin 1989.

He went on to run for the NDPin the St. Boniface riding in the 1999 provincial election. He won the seatand was appointed finance minister by then-premier Gary Doer, a role he served in for 10 years before becoming NDP leader and premier in 2009, following Doer's resignation.

He led the party to its fourth straight majority government in theOctober 2011 general election.

But Selinger, faced with a fiscal crunch caused in part by a sharp reduction in federal equalization payments, missed balanced budget targets and, in 2013, raised the provincial sales tax to eight per cent from seven.

The NDP government's popularity began to tumble months later. He resigned as party leader after the NDP was defeated by the Progressive Conservatives in 2016.

'Governed from the heart'

A former social worker, Selinger developed programs while in office to address poverty and cracked down on short-term, high-interest loans.

Peter Bjornson, who served in Selinger's cabinet, said Selinger was a caring leader who enacted many progressive policies.

"He governed from the heart," Bjornson said.

Premier Wab Kinew, who succeeded Selinger as NDP leader,also attended the hour-long ceremony.

Selinger brought Kinew, a former broadcaster, on board as a star candidate in 2016. The following year, Kinew won the party leadership.

In 2018, heasked Selinger to resign his legislature seat over allegations anNDP cabinet minister had inappropriately touched women. Selingerannounced soon after that he was resigning.