Rejected leadership candidate back with PCs

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This article was published 27/09/2023 (747 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A rejected Manitoba Tory leadership candidate with far-right support, who once accused the PCs of “dirty party politics,” has been welcomed back into the fold.

Ken Lee, whose criticism of Manitoba government vaccination requirements and public health orders earned him the support of People’s Party of Canada members and anti-vaxxers, has quietly returned to help out with the Progressive Conservatives’ 2023 election campaign.

“Ken is one of the smartest guys there is when it comes to election finance and he gives good advice,” said PC campaign manager Marni Larkin. “We’d be crazy not to talk to him about it.”

She said Lee is assisting Seine River incumbent Janice Morley-Lecomte’s campaign (he previously served as her official agent).

The Manitoba Tories’ former chief financial officer had a public falling out with the party in 2021, when he was disqualified from running to replace Brian Pallister as leader and premier.

Lee organized a protest outside of PC headquarters in downtown Winnipeg. On social media, he accused the party of dirty tricks for keeping him off the leadership ballot, even though he’d met all the requirements, including selling more than 1,000 memberships and raising the $25,000 entry fee.

Lee, who then and now has ignored interview requests, suggested at the time the party disqualified him because he had sold the most memberships.

With each party member eligible to vote for a leader, Lee alleged his candidacy was viewed as a threat to victory for Tuxedo MLA Heather Stefanson, who had the backing of the PC caucus and establishment.

Only Stefanson and former MP and Winnipeg police officer Shelly Glover were approved to run for leader, having “met all requirements as set out in the rules established by the party’s executive council,” the party said at the time.

While it said the vetting process is confidential, the party noted candidates also had to pass an interview process “to ensure a commitment to the principles and values of the party.”

Lee’s leadership campaign platform had railed against the “failed” actions of chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin. In bullet form, Lee promised “no vaccine passports, vaccination not a job requirement, churches and businesses — all essential, added protection for the vulnerable, increase hospital ICU capacity.”

Two years later, the rejected leadership candidate was welcomed by the victor, who’s now fighting to become the first woman to be elected premier of Manitoba.

“We’re a big-tent party,” Stefanson said when asked about Lee’s recent involvement.

“It was obviously a hotly-contested race between Shelly Glover and myself, and we spent time trying to bring the party back together, and I think that that’s a very important thing,” the premier told the Brandon Sun editorial board Monday.

Glover unsuccessfully challenged in court the results of the 2021 PC leadership race after Stefanson narrowly won. Glover did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Stefanson said the Tories welcome ideas and internal debate.

“There’ll be people from all different perspectives and everything else within our party. And we listen, and we debate things at the party level. We have good healthy debates, which is good for a political party.”

Lee’s expertise is also a good thing for the party, said the campaign manager.

“Ken has lots to offer and he’s a great guy and I love working with him,” said Larkin. “I’ve had a friendship with him for a long time, and if he has advice for me, I’ll take it.

“He’s the smartest guy there is on election financing and he makes sure that everything stays above board… He’s a welcome part of our team, as is everyone. We have a big tent.”

Those with right-of-centre views face slim political pickings in this election and the PCs are seizing the opportunity to try and win their votes, says one expert.

“If you are a conservative in Manitoba right now, there’s no other option on the right of the political spectrum,” said Félix Mathieu, political science assistant professor at the University of Winnipeg.

The upstart Keystone Party was able to field just five rural candidates, he noted.

With the NDP’s move to the political centre and the Liberals steering to the left, the PCs know they’re unchallenged on the right, said Mathieu.

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“What they’re trying to do is to appear moderate and centrist in the eyes of the general public, which tends to be moderate, while also courting the votes of those on the radical right who ask to be convinced to invest their trust in the PCs.”

The Tories are appealing to so-called “freedom convoy” supporters and opponents of pandemic public health restrictions, whose views often overlap with the “parental rights” issue that’s become a key plank in the PC platform, said Mathieu.

“That, however, is a risky game to play, as you may end up appearing unsatisfying to both the moderate electorate, who might vote NDP, and those on the radical right, who might simply not vote at all.”

— with files from Brandon Sun

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.