Potential leadership contender raises alarm about Tory memberships

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This article was published 06/12/2023 (663 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Progressive Conservative party is being called out by one of its own for holding a vote on new leadership election rules two weeks after memberships expire, which would potentially disqualify delegates from voting.

“The idea of having a major change in how leadership is determined and so quickly after memberships expired during a time of year when a lot of people are away with family or out of the province, doesn’t allow for the membership base to be fully engaged in this process,” said former Winnipeg PC MLA Kevin Klein.

Party memberships expire Dec. 31, while a vote to choose new leadership election rules is set for a special meeting on Jan. 13. The party’s constitution says any party member may attend special meetings but only delegates — 10 per constituency association — may vote. Delegates must be paid-up members who have held membership in the party for a minimum of 30 days prior to their election as a delegate.

In the last leadership race on Oct. 30, 2021, disqualified fringe candidate Ken Lee reportedly sold more party memberships than either of his opponents: Tuxedo MLA Heather Stefanson, who was backed by the party establishment, and populist former MP Shelly Glover, who launched an unsuccessful court challenge after she was narrowly defeated. The PC party also had issues with mail-in ballots.

Less than two days before the deadline to vote for leader of the PC party in 2021, some party members complained they hadn’t received a mail-in ballot and couldn’t get answers from party headquarters.

When Stefanson’s Tories lost the Oct. 3 election, and she announced she would step aside as leader, her party was already eyeing changes to how it elects its leader.

Klein, who lost his seat to the NDP, hasn’t ruled out running for leader.

He said it doesn’t appear the party has contacted members to remind them to renew memberships so they can take part in the process. As a former PC MLA, he’s on the executive council of the party and receives notices, he said.

The party needs to do a better job of communicating with its members, said Klein.

“That’s what’s missing here. We have to rebuild trust with our (Progressive) Conservative voters,” he said.

The PC party did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Its rule that memberships expire on Dec. 31 in a year in which a general election has been held has been in place for a long time, said Stefanson who “doesn’t particularly like it.”

In a scrum Tuesday, the PC leader dismissed the notion that the party is keen to shed members who supported Lee and Glover.

“I would like those people to continue to be members of our party,” she said. “We will reach out to all those individuals and welcome them back to the party if they choose to do so.”

University of Manitoba political studies Prof. Royce Koop said hanging onto members is in a party’s best interest.

“The hope is that the party would make as much effort as it could to actually get people renewed to vote, so whatever decision is made has as much legitimacy as possible, especially given what happened in the last leadership election,” Koop said.

“They don’t want a lower turnout. They don’t want to have less engagement. That just makes people mad, and it’s not going to be good in terms of rebuilding the party,” the political columnist said.

He expects the PC party will keep that in mind given what happened in the last race “to make sure people feel like things were done in a way that’s fair and that their votes actually mattered.”

In choosing Stefanson’s successor, the defeated PC party can’t afford another messy leadership race, said veteran political analyst Paul Thomas.

Some proposed rule changes may have a major effect on the process, said the University of Manitoba political studies professor emeritus.

A points system, which is under consideration, would cap the influence of constituencies where leadership contenders sign up short-term members to outnumber the ranks of the longstanding party faithful, Thomas said in an email.

The party is also considering ranked balloting, with the eventual winner requiring at least half the vote — making the election of a centrist leader more likely, said Thomas, who thinks that’s needed for the PCs to win an election.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca