Anyone-but-Oswald push starts

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This article was published 05/02/2015 (4138 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW Democrat MLA Rob Altemeyer has called a squeeze play on NDP leadership candidate Theresa Oswald, but whether the rest of the team shows up remains to be seen.

For the backbench MLA’s plan to work, he needs Premier Greg Selinger and former cabinet minister Steve Ashton to agree on joint slates of delegates at selection meetings that are to start Friday.

Altemeyer said in a letter sent to his Wolseley constituents Selinger and Ashton’s campaign team have to join hands to block any chance of Oswald becoming the party’s next leader in a convention vote March 8.

“My own position on the leadership race hasn’t changed — I haven’t endorsed anyone but so long as the Oswald campaign doesn’t win, I would consider the result a victory for democracy and for the integrity of the Manitoba NDP,” Altemeyer said in the letter.

“In any constituency where there’s a chance Ms. Oswald might win, I think it entirely appropriate for local members of the Selinger and Ashton camps to combine forces, split the delegate spots between them as they see fit and let the chips fall where they may on the convention floor.”

Altemeyer said his goal isn’t to get a specific person elected leader — it’s to stop Oswald in her tracks.

“My No. 1 priority is to make the case that the Oswald campaign does not deserve to lead our party,” he said. “In the places where it looks like the Oswald campaign might be able to win some or all of the delegates, I certainly think party members and the local organizers for both Ashton and Selinger camps should have a comfort level for at least discussing the idea.”

Altemeyer has already criticized Oswald, one of five ministers who resigned Nov. 3 in a failed bid to force Selinger to resign to reverse the NDP’s plummeting poll numbers. Selinger instead called for the leadership vote on March 8 at the NDP’s annual convention.

Altemeyer said he does not publicly support either Selinger or Ashton, and likely won’t endorse anyone before the leadership vote.

He also said he does not have support from other caucus members, but believes he’s doing the right thing given the upheaval in the party caused by Oswald and the four other former ministers.

“I would love not to be in the situation at all,” he said. “But we are because of the actions of the five former cabinet ministers.

“I think when people who are considering to vote for someone, there’s the old adage that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. We have to look at who caused this and who are the ones that have damaged us the most.”

Senior cabinet minister Gord Mackintosh, who’s been asked by representatives of Selinger and Oswald to help heal the rift with the party, said the war of words has to stop.

“I say to all camps, I’m not picking on any one of them, that there are no enemies in a party contest,” he said. “Harming a candidate is later harming a premier.”

In a statement replying to Altemeyer’s letter, Oswald’s campaign team said: “From the outset, Theresa has pledged to run a respectful campaign true to New Democratic values. Theresa and the entire campaign team have been reaching out to long-time members, new members and returning members about the future of our party and who can be most competitive in the next election.

“Every member will decide who they want to be the next leader, and we will respect all decisions.”

Ashton also issued a statement: “We have been quite busy supporting the work of those getting registered to stand as delegates. It’s premature to talk about our strategy for slates outside the north and Manitoba Young New Democrats, as we’re currently working through our strategy for them. We have received advice from many quarters on how to formulate slates, as you can imagine.”

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca