Stefanson willing to step aside, give up seat for a new Tory leader

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This article was published 15/11/2023 (714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Heather Stefanson is willing to make way for her successor at the top of Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party early in the new year, and that could include her seat in the legislature, if necessary.

The Tory leader, who was elected in Tuxedo for a seventh time despite her government’s defeat on Oct. 3, appeared in public Wednesday for just the second time since election night, when she announced her intention to resign the leadership but told supporters she’d stay on for an indeterminate period of time.

“My commitment was to ensuring we have a smooth transition through that process,” the leader of the official Opposition told reporters in her office at the legislature.

The party is expected to establish new leadership rules at its annual general meeting early in the new year.

Stefanson was asked whether she’ll then hand over the reins to an interim leader chosen by the PC caucus ahead of a leadership race sometime in the next 18 months.

“Possibly…. In terms of when — or if — that will happen will be determined at a later date.”

And Stefanson said she is willing to step aside in her constituency and vacate the seat for a byelection if the party’s leadership choice is not an elected member of the legislature.

“I think it’s been tradition in the past if someone is chosen as leader of the party who doesn’t have a seat, often the previous leader will step down and allow them to run in their seat,” she said. “We’ll see what happens over the course of the next little while.”

Two potential successors who’d find themselves in that situation are Candice Bergen, the former Conservative MP for Portage-Lisgar who served as the PC election campaign co-chair and Kevin Klein, Manitoba’s former environment and climate minister and MLA for Kirkfield Park, who was defeated Oct. 3 by the NDP’s Logan Oxenham.

Klein didn’t rule out a leadership bid.

“I feel really grateful for all the calls I’ve been getting from folks encouraging me to think about leading the Manitoba PC party,” Klein said in a text message Wednesday. “Right now, I’m taking my time to think things through carefully, keeping all options open for what I might do next.”

“I think it’s been tradition in the past if someone is chosen as leader of the party who doesn’t have a seat, often the previous leader will step down and allow them to run in their seat… We’ll see what happens over the course of the next little while.”–Heather Stefanson

Stefanson said she’s committed to her Tuxedo constituents and making sure their voices are heard “loud and clear” in the Manitoba legislature and that the NDP government is held to account when the session begins with the speech from the throne on Tuesday.

With only 11 sitting days before the house recesses, the NDP plan to pass legislation suspending the 14 cent per litre gas tax effective Jan. 1 and to bestow on Louis Riel the title of Manitoba’s honorary first premier.

Stefanson said the Opposition PCs needs to see the content of the bills before they decide to support them. “We do support affordability and we’ve been consistent on that front,” she said.

The leader addressed her absence from the media spotlight after election night, popping up publicly once on Oct. 23 to be sworn in as an MLA before disappearing again. She said she’s been busy with the transition from government to opposition — saying goodbye to 100 staff members, hiring new employees, building a shadow cabinet and preparing MLAs for the session.

She said she went on a two-week family vacation without saying where, other than it was someplace warm and that she also spent a week with her daughter, Victoria, who started a new job in Toronto.

“I love my kids. I want to spend more time with them now that I have more time to do so.”

She missed the Speaker of the House Tom Lindsey being acclaimed on Nov. 9, saying her vacation was planned around the legislative session beginning Nov. 21.

“The deputy leader (Kelvin Goertzen — Steinbach) stepped in for that day,” she said. “I’m grateful for the incredible team we’ve got.”

“I love my kids. I want to spend more time with them now that I have more time to do so.”–Heather Stefanson

The former premier declined to comment on her election campaign platform, that included ads refusing to search the Prairie Green Landfill for the remains of slain Indigenous women police believe are buried there.

“I think Manitobans have spoken and there’s a new government in the province of Manitoba and our job in opposition is to hold them to account on the promises they’ve made to Manitobans,” Stefanson said.

“I’m not going to rehash things from the election campaign. We learn from from the past but I think what we need to do is focus on the future. We will be doing our job as the official Opposition,” she said.

Its priorities for the upcoming session are affordability and the federal carbon tax on home heating, health care, crime, public safety and debating the speech from the throne.

“Our caucus is pumped up and ready to go and we’re ready to hold the government to account.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca