Manitoba Progressive Conservatives to elect new leader in April 2025
Manitoba Progressive Conservatives will have to wait another year before electing a new leader to replace former premier Heather Stefanson.
The party, which had been contemplating a leadership race this fall, announced Tuesday that it has scheduled the leadership vote for April 26 of next year.
Wayne Ewasko, who has been serving as interim leader since Stefanson stepped down in January, said the extra time will let the party prepare.
"I think it definitely gives more time for us to sign up members and to get more Manitobans involved," Ewasko told reporters.
The Tories were in office for seven years before losing last October's provincial election to the NDP. Stefanson announced her plan to resign on election night, but stayed on until January, when the party sorted out new rules for leadership races.
The extra time may also give the party more time to replenish its coffers.
Documents filed with Elections Manitoba show the Tories raised less money than the NDP in the election campaign.
The NDP garnered just over $971,000 in contributions, fundraising and other income en route to victory. That was roughly $307,000 more than what the Tories raised.
The NDP also outspent opponents, with $1.8 million in expenses and transfers to candidates compared with $1.5 million for the Tories.
Both parties posted deficits for the campaign of more than $850,000.
The NDP's better fundraising was to be expected, one political analyst said, given the Tories had trailed in opinion polls for two years before the election.
"The anticipation for a couple of years that (the NDP) was headed to victory based partly on anger toward the PCs helped with the recruitment of members and the appeals to donors," Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said.
For next year's leadership contest, the Tories are aiming to avoid the controversy that flared up when Stefanson narrowly won the leadership in the fall of 2021.
There was a last-minute surge in party memberships and many members complained they did not receive mail-in ballots in time to vote. An internal review of that race's problems pointed to other issues, including the possibility that the party's one-member, one-vote system left it open to a takeover from single-interest outsiders.
The new leadership rules will allow for electronic voting as well as the traditional mail-in ballots, although the final decision will rest with a committee governing the contest.
The new rules continue to allow every Tory member to vote, but they also incorporate a point system to limit the weight of constituencies with big membership numbers. The aim is to ensure that the leadership race cannot be decided by a flood of new members in one or two constituencies.
While the Tory leadership race is still months away from starting, some Tories have signalled they could throw their hat in the ring.
Ewasko would not rule out a run Tuesday. Former cabinet minister Kevin Klein, who lost his seat in last year's election, has said he is considering a run. Obby Khan, a former cabinet minister who is now the party's finance critic, has also hinted he may take a run at the party helm.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Speaker kicks Poilievre out of Commons over unparliamentary comments
Speaker Greg Fergus kicked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre out of the House of Commons during question period today.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland previews omnibus budget bill, proposed capital gains tax change left out
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
McGill requests 'police assistance' over pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University says it has 'requested police assistance' about the pro-Palestinian encampment on its lower field.
Judge raises threat of jail in hush money trial as he holds Trump in contempt, fines him US$9,000
Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined US$9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. And if he does it again, the judge warned, he could be jailed.
Court upholds Milwaukee police officer's firing for posting racist memes after Sterling Brown arrest
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a former Milwaukee police officer was properly fired for posting racist memes related to the arrest of an NBA player that triggered a public outcry.
Witness details deadly wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A driver who witnessed a wrong-way police pursuit on Highway 401 moments before a fatal crash said he was hoping the chase would have been called off before lives were lost.