Martin to launch leadership bid Monday

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This article was published 12/09/2021 (1581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No more needling his party’s approach to governing in 280 characters or less. The PC party’s resident social media pundit really is ready to lay out a leadership vision of his own.

Tory MLA Shannon Martin will officially enter the race to become the next leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba at a campaign launch Monday.

The McPhillips MLA will make his announcement at Bayview Construction in Oak Bluff at noon.

Martin was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 2014 to represent the rural seat of Morris and won reelection in 2019 in Winnipeg’s McPhillips constituency.

The backbench MLA became a frequent critic of his own party via social media earlier this summer as former premier Brian Pallister was assailed for widely condemned comments on colonialism and reconciliation.

Pallister stepped down on Sept. 1. Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen will serve as premier until the PCs select a new leader at a convention on Oct. 30.

Martin’s decision to confirm his candidacy comes just days after another Tory leadership hopeful kicked off her campaign in a launch that generated controversy.

Shelly Glover, a federal cabinet minister in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s government, held her campaign launch in the parking lot of Habitat for Humanity Manitoba’s ReStore at 60 Archibald St. on Friday morning.

Habitat for Humanity Manitoba builds homes for low-income working families to purchase through no-money-down, interest-free mortgages.

Glover’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday after concerns were raised that the launch, with the non-profit organization as a backdrop, violated federal tax rules.

Habitat for Humanity CEO Sandy Hopkins apologized in a statement on Saturday calling it “a serious error in judgment” to allow Glover’s announcement to be held on the charity’s property.

“I deeply regret allowing this event to proceed,” he said.

Initially, the charity maintained that it had only “loaned space in a parking lot to a longtime supporter for an announcement.”

Canada Revenue Agency federal tax guidelines rule out participation of charities in partisan political activity.

Hopkins said it was not his intention to imply an endorsement of Glover’s campaign by him or Habitat for Humanity.

Martin and Glover join Tuxedo PC MLA Heather Stefanson as candidates to helm the PC party. Stefanson was first to stake her claim for the leadership in a kickoff event on Aug. 18 that attracted the support of many of her fellow PC MLAs.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca