No rush to replace chief of staff: Liberals

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This article was published 08/03/2016 (3588 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Liberal leader Rana Bokhari said they don’t plan to immediately hire a new chief of staff after their current one quit this weekend.

After speaking about the fiscal update tabled Tuesday, Bokhari told the media Spencer Fernando would not be replaced until after the election. Fernando, 27, a former Tory staffer who switched to the Grits about a year ago, quit during the party’s annual general meeting this past weekend. Stephanie Danyluk who was the Liberal candidate for Fort Whyte and Fernando’s girlfriend, also quit.

“We understood Spencer and Stephanie, personal issues always trump politics, and they had to do it (quit) for their own personal reasons,” she said.

This comes less than a week after the party severed ties with Jamie Hall, who was not only their candidate for Southdale, but helping with the party’s website.

Despite the losses, Bokhari said she remains confident the party will be able to nominate a full slate of candidates ahead of the April 19 election. Nominations close at 1 p.m. March 29.

She said they will adding on new staff members, including human rights lawyer Corey Shefman, who will be co-chairing her Fort Rouge campaign and also helping with the central operations.

She admitted they are not very far in replacing Danyluk in Fort Whyte and have about three people interested in running in Southdale.