Ashton’s team talking up first-ballot win

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This article was published 15/09/2009 (5899 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steve Ashton may not be the pundits’ pick to win the NDP leadership race, but his campaign team said Monday it has sold so many memberships that he could win on the first ballot Oct. 17.

Russ Wyatt, Ashton’s campaign chairman, said supporters of the Thompson MLA have sold or renewed 1,100 memberships in the past week.

"It’s looking extremely positive. The response has been huge," Wyatt, the city councillor for Transcona, told reporters outside the NDP provincial headquarters, where he dropped off about 250 memberships on Monday.

Point Douglas activist Sel Burrows, another Ashton supporter, said their analysis of constituency support shows the former intergovernmental affairs minister to be in the lead. "We have a firm chance of winning on the first ballot," he said.

Ashton’s two opponents in the race to lead the NDP in the wake of Gary Doer’s decision to resign and accept a diplomatic position in Washington were predictably skeptical on Monday.

"I’m glad he’s feeling that he’s having a good membership drive," former finance minister Greg Selinger said of Ashton.

"It ain’t over until it’s over," he said of the leadership race. "We’re all working hard and I think it’s still a very tight race. I think everybody’s in the race at this stage of the game."

Former competitiveness minister Andrew Swan said as a runner and former football player "you don’t start talking when the clock is still ticking."

Swan said he’s glad that his two competitors are out selling memberships. "This race is about renewing the party and getting people excited, and being out there selling memberships helps to do that," he said.

Neither Selinger’s nor Swan’s campaign people had an estimate Monday of how many memberships they had sold, but both said that their candidates had considerable support. Said one Selinger official: "If you’re spending your time counting (memberships), that’s time you could have spent selling."

Supporters of all three candidates are working flat out to sell party memberships until the cutoff of 4:30 p.m. on Thursday — exactly a month before the leadership convention.

All members in good standing as of that date are eligible to select delegates in constituencies to attend the convention. Those delegates — and union delegates — will select the party leader.

As of Sunday, the provincial NDP had 7,543 members, according to party officials. That’s up from about 5,500 on Aug. 27, the day that Doer announced that he would step down as party leader and premier.

The legislature resumed sitting on Monday, but none of the three leadership candidates participated. Selinger stepped into the house briefly but was gone by the time question period began. Ashton was campaigning in Thompson while Swan was campaigning in Winnipeg, as was Selinger.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

 

Swan not sold on merits of harmonized sales tax

Andrew Swan promised not to implement a harmonized sales tax (HST) for the remainder of the government’s term in office. Under new fixed election dates, the next provincial election will be held Oct. 4, 2011. "We will not impose the HST for two years. Maybe we never will. Maybe we’ll be convinced that it’s good for Manitobans. But as it stands this is not the time to be looking at putting more taxes on Manitoba consumers and Manitoba families," he said.

Swan also pledged to increase the base rate paid to welfare recipients, which has not been adjusted since 1999. He said since then, the cost of living in Manitoba has gone up by more than 20 per cent.

Greg Selinger received the endorsement of Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick, bringing the number of NDP caucus members supporting him to 14.

At a news conference at The Forks, Selinger said he would use the Red River floodway to reduce riverbank flooding and allow for the walkway at The Forks to be open more than it is now. "We’ll try to work with all the people affected by the floodway, upstream, as well as in the city, to ensure the walkway can be more available as a recreational resource for all Manitobans," he said, adding that anyone upstream who is adversely affected would be compensated as per existing government legislation.

Steve Ashton spent the day in Thompson campaigning and had no policy announcements. But his supporters claimed that they had sold enough memberships to make him the frontrunner in the campaign. His supporters have sold or renewed 1,100 memberships in the past week, they say.