Tories promote rebel MLA to caucus chair

A Tory who lost his cabinet seat for refusing to support COVID-19 vaccines has been named chair of the government caucus.

The party broke the news in a Thursday release, appointing Springfield-Ritchot MLA Ron Schuler as caucus chair, and McPhillips MLA Shannon Martin as caucus whip.

Premier Heather Stefanson removed Schuler as cabinet minister in December 2021, after he refused to discuss his COVID-19 vaccination status and failed to support public health orders.

Stefanson had mandated all Tory MLAs be fully vaccinated.

“The public messaging from Mr. Schuler has not been necessarily consistent with the spirit of our government’s efforts to get Manitobans fully vaccinated and continue to move forward on that front,” she said at the time.

Schuler later responded with a tweet, writing, “Liberty has its price, today I paid for mine.”

First elected in 1999, he has held various roles, including as minister of infrastructure and Crown services.

“I’m excited to help lead our PC caucus team as we gear up for the upcoming spring session,” Schuler said of his new appointment.

“Manitobans don’t want to go back to the dark days of the NDP, and we have a great PC team that Manitobans have trust in. I will do my part to ensure we continue listening and engaging with, and acting on their priorities.”

Martin is tasked with maintaining party discipline as caucus whip.

He was an outspoken critic of Brian Pallister. He chastised the former premier for admonishing protesters who pulled down the statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth in July 2021.

He made a bid for Tory leadership in 2021 but failed to make the final ballot.

Martin was first elected in 2014 as the MLA for Morris, but took over McPhillips in 2019 after Elections Manitoba eliminated the Morris constituency.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca