Fletcher says premier thwarted his shot at running federally

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This article was published 01/07/2018 (2831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The former president of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party said he resigned his membership over the weekend because of Premier Brian Pallister.

Independent MLA Steven Fletcher, who was ousted from the PC caucus last year after publicly criticizing government decisions, tweeted his resignation Saturday.

“As a past president of PC Manitoba and a member for as long as I can remember, I do not make this decision lightly. Perhaps in the future the party will have more thoughtful leadership,” Fletcher wrote.

In an interview Sunday, Fletcher said he believes Pallister undermined his plans to run federally in his former riding of Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley, a seat he held for more than a decade before losing it to Liberal Doug Eyolfson in 2015. 

Last week, Fletcher’s nomination was denied by the federal Tories. 

“I have it on good authority that when the premier and (federal PC Leader) Andrew Scheer met in Ottawa… about eight weeks ago, they didn’t talk about issues like the carbon tax. But they did talk about me, which is you know, beneath both of them to get involved in a nomination,” Fletcher said, adding later he had three sources tell him the information. He would not reveal who they were.

Fletcher described a “falling out” with the premier over the province’s proposed carbon tax plan, which he believes was brought up in the meeting with Scheer.

“There’s uneasy tension over the carbon tax and other issues, but apparently whatever deals were made, I was one of the chips,” he said. “And worse than that, the democratic rights of the membership to choose who they wish to represent them have been totally undermined and the process has been a sham, according to the people who were non-partisan and on that committee.” 

When asked for comment about Fletcher’s allegations, the premier’s office deferred to PC Manitoba CEO Keith Stewart. 

“The allegations by the member from Assiniboia are completely false and absurd. The federal Conservative Party knows the member better than anyone after 12 years of his being an MP,” Stewart wrote in an email.

Fletcher served as a minister of state in Stephen Harper’s cabinet from 2008 to 2013 before being shuffled out. He soon developed a reputation as a maverick, publicly defying his party and supporting the case for legalizing medically assisted dying. 

The MLA said he is a “better fit” in federal politics than provincial politics and he hopes to return to Parliament Hill as an MP.

“There’s still one more step in this (nomination process) federally and I hope Andrew Scheer will fix the mess that the faceless unaccountable party drones in the ivory towers of Ottawa have created. And if Andrew does that, then we move on and if not, we still move on,” he said.

Two other candidates are also vying for Fletcher’s former federal seat. City councillor Marty Morantz and Stephen Barber, a policy analyst with Manitoba Health, have submitted nomination papers.

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @_jessbu