Mercredi elected new NDP president

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/03/2015 (3940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OVIDE Mercredi, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations and a staunch Greg Selinger supporter, is the new president of the Manitoba NDP.

Mercredi, 69, defeated two other candidates, including three-year incumbent Ellen Olfert, in a contest that was influenced, at least in part, by leadership politics.

He is the first indigenous person to be elected president of the Manitoba NDP.

Mercredi’s candidacy caught most in the party by surprise when it was announced on Friday afternoon along with an endorsement by Premier Selinger.

Some said it was unusual for a leader to publicly back a candidate for the party presidency, especially without any forewarning.

Mercredi himself said he didn’t decide to run until 3 p.m. on Friday. Less than a half-hour later, Selinger sent a press release announcing his endorsement.

While Mercredi is a star candidate, his election was also viewed as a bid by the premier to tighten his grip over the new executive.

At least three other Selinger loyalists were elected Saturday as regional vice-presidents, including former finance minister Rosann Wowchuk and former Winnipeg School Division chairwoman Suzanne Hyrnyk.

Olfert, who has been careful to remain neutral during the leadership race, had served as president since 2012.

She will remain on the NDP board as past president. Olfert is said to have been backed by leadership candidate Theresa Oswald.

A third candidate for president, Tyler Duncan, an 18-year-old University of Winnipeg student originally from Norway House, was endorsed by leadership candidate Steve Ashton.

Duncan, who wowed the convention with an eloquent speech, was later elected to the board as a member at large.

Mercredi, a Cree leader from Grand Rapids, credited name recognition and Selinger’s endorsement for his win.

In a speech to delegates, he said his first job as president would be to “bring about reconciliation” within the party.

He later said he can work with whoever is elected leader today. “I can work with any one of those three people. If I didn’t think I could, I wouldn’t have run.”

It took two ballots to elect the NDP president after none of the candidates received a majority of the votes in the first round of voting. In the second ballot, Mercredi got 300 votes to 263 for Olfert.

Mercredi’s ties to the NDP go back to the days of Ed Schreyer and Howard Pawley. He said he has not always been an NDP member, though, since he felt he needed to be neutral when he served as chief and grand chief.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

wfplivestream:3869937:wfplivestream