Manitoba Tory leader to step down Monday as delegates set rules for leadership race

Manitoba Tory leader to step down Monday as delegates set rules for leadership race

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader and former premier Heather Stefanson has announced she will resign as party head on Monday.

Stefanson had already indicated her plan to resign after losing the Oct. 3 provincial election, but she set a departure date Saturday as Tory delegates met to set rules for the next leadership race that will determine her successor.

“I believe, and I still believe, that we’re going to be the best party to govern this province and I think we have an opportunity after this leadership (contest) of being back in government,” Stefanson told reporters.

Stefanson became premier in 2021 after former premier Brian Pallister resigned. First elected to the Legislature in 2000, she became the province’s first female premier.

“The best part of that is that I know I won’t be the last,” she said.

Stefanson took over the Tory helm at a time when the party was low in opinion polls and had faced controversy over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and years of fiscal restraint.

She promised a more conciliatory approach and loosened the government purse strings, but Tory fortunes did not rebound.

On the campaign trail for the Oct. 3 election, the Tories ran ads highlighting the fact they had refused to search a landfill where the remains of two Indigenous women are believed to be, citing safety risks from toxic material. The ads were widely condemned by Indigenous leaders and others.

Stefanson said she will keep her legislature seat for the time being, and hinted she may open the seat if the party’s next leader comes from outside caucus.

The Tories did not set a date for a leadership convention, but passed several changes to the rules that govern such races, including moving away from the current one-member-one-vote system.

The next leader will be chosen under a point system, with a sliding scale that caps the influence of big constituencies. A constituency with 100 voting members would get 100 points in a leadership vote. One with 400 member votes would get 200 points, and no constituency would get more than 500 points.

The party will allow the possibility of electronic voting instead of the traditional mail-in ballots, although the final decision will be up to a party committee that governs leadership races.

Kelvin Goertzen, the Tory deputy leader, will fill in for Stefanson until the caucus chooses an interim leader later this month.

Goertzen said he likes the new points system because it requires leaders to garner support from many areas of the province.

“This system still recognizes that there are some ridings that have more members … but it also will require the leadership candidates to campaign in every part of Manitoba and understand every part of Manitoba.”

The Tories are looking to avoid a repeat of their last leadership race in 2021, when many people did not receive ballots in time to vote by mail.

Leadership contender Shelly Glover lost the race to Stefanson by a narrow margin and challenged the results in court, but a judge ruled Glover failed to show there were any irregularities that would have affected the outcome.

Among the Tories being discussed as potential leadership candidates is Obby Khan, a former cabinet minister who did not rule out a run Saturday. Khan said he was focused on listening to delegates about the best way to select a leader that represents Manitobans.

“From that, we’ll evaluate. I’ll meet with my team and I’ll meet with my family and we’ll see from there.”

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press