Oswald reflects on a campaign that would’ve been

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This article was published 21/04/2016 (3456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former rebel NDP cabinet minister says she would have done things differently had she led the party this election.

Theresa Oswald lost the leadership vote by only 33 votes last year, allowing Greg Selinger to remain NDP boss. It is a reality that crept up in her mind as she watched the NDP’s devastating collapse Tuesday.

“I’m not going to mislead you, to say it is has never crossed my mind. Of course it did. But our members made a decision March 8 (2015), and I am going to respect that,” Oswald told the Free Press Thursday. “My personal style is different from Greg Selinger’s personal style, and that kind of informs everything that you do.”

Oswald was one of five members of the so-called Gang of Five cabinet ministers who called on Selinger to step down as leader.

She didn’t go into specifics but said inevitably the themes she presented, the announcements she made and the way she would have taken on Pallister in a debate, would have all been different. She watched, without surprise, the NDP drop to 14 seats from 37 as the Progressive Conservatives grabbed power with 40 seats, 21 more than they won in 2011.

It was the results she, along with the other four rebel cabinet ministers, warned about when they resigned from cabinet in late 2014.

“It goes without saying that the results were heartbreaking ones. Based on the information we had from so many polls going back as long as three years, I can’t say that I was surprised by the results. We had the evidence to show us that’s where we were headed,” she said. “When I see some of my beloved friends, like Dave Chomiak (who was ousted from his Kildonan seat), not get re-elected, it is really, really painful.”

Andrew Swan, the former justice minister, was the only Gang of Five member who sought re-election, handily winning his seat in Minto on Tuesday. He admits to be being disappointed with the overall results but said he is now focused on rebuilding the party with the 14 seats they won.

“It was very disappointing on election night. I wish that history had played out differently over the last year-and-a-half, that’s no question,” he said.

He admits the what-ifs surrounding Oswald going up against Pallister have frequently crossed his mind.

“We did what we did because people inside the building, people outside the building, people in and outside of politics told us what the issues were and what the concerns were, and that’s why ultimately, from working for months within the party and behind the scenes, we felt we had to go public,” he said.

Oswald announced last October she was not running for re-election in her seat in Seine River. Instead, she said she wanted to try something different, without ruling out “opportunities in the future.”

‘Based on the information we had from so many polls going back as long as three years, I can’t say that I was surprised by the results’– Theresa Oswald

With Selinger’s resignation as leader and an eventual leadership convention in the party’s future, Oswald left the door open just a crack to return to the fold to lead the party.

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“I am not putting myself in a position where I’m thinking in absolutes and saying ‘never, never,’ but the fact is that I thought long and hard about my decision to leave political life, and it was a tough decision, and I believe it was the right decision,” she said.

“The idea of jumping right back in right now really is the last thing on my mind.”

There are a couple of caucus members Oswald sees as possessing the “it factor” needed to become leader and get the party back on track — but she was not naming names Thursday.

“I hope the party takes a little bit of time to reflect on how important it is for the leader of any political party to, if at all possible, possess that elusive “it factor,” that unwavering charisma that (former NDP premier) Gary Doer had,” she said.

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca