NDP leadership convention Oct. 17
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/08/2009 (6153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A vote to replace Premier Gary Doer as NDP leader will be held Oct. 17, the party executive decided Monday night, as labour leaders mused privately about a younger leader who could invigorate the governing party.
The date coincides with the end of the fall legislative session.
Insiders say a quick leadership convention benefits everyone.
Brandon East MLA Drew Caldwell, who also sits on the party’s 24-person executive, said a quick vote also does not divert from the work of government. The fall session starts Sept. 14 and ends Oct. 8.
NDP president Lorraine Sigurdson said Doer’s resignation last Thursday has thrown the party into overdrive as it organizes its first leadership convention since 1988.
Sigurdson said the date gives leadership hopefuls adequate time to sell memberships. The deadline is Sept. 17. The voting strength of each district will be determined by the number of members it has 30 days before the convention. Delegates will be selected from the province’s 57 constituencies. An undetermined number of union delegates will also help choose Doer’s successor.
Delegates who cannot make it to the Winnipeg Convention Centre will be allowed to vote via video conferencing, Sigurdson said.
Matt Schaubroeck of the NDP’s youth wing said the leadership contest is a perfect opportunity to inject new blood into the NDP.
Those touted as potential candidates include: Health Minister Theresa Oswald, Finance Minister Greg Selinger, Competitiveness, Training and Trade Minister Andrew Swan, Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh, and longtime parliamentarian and newly elected MLA Bill Blaikie. None has signalled their intentions.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Steve Ashton has said he may run, while Winnipeg Centre NDP MP Pat Martin hasn’t ruled it out.
On Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper named Doer as Canada’s next ambassador to the United States, replacing Michael Wilson.
— With files from Lindsey Wiebe
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
