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Manitoba Liberal leader stepping down Saturday

By: Bruce Owen

Friday, May. 11, 2012 at 8:12 AM | Comments: 0

Jon Gerrard (CP)

THE embattled Manitoba Liberal Party will officially start its hunt for a new leader on Saturday when Jon Gerrard formally steps down as leader.

Liberals at the party's annual general meeting will also pick a date in the fall of 2013 to elect a leader to replace Gerrard, plus they'll debate the merits of a merger with the Green party.

Gerrard tendered his resignation in fall after his party's poor performance at the polls in the Oct. 4 provincial election.

The Liberals only have one seat in the 57-seat legislature -- Gerrard's River Heights seat.

"The timing of that is that I officially resign by (Friday)," Gerrard said Thursday. "What the board has asked me to do is stay on as the interim leader until there is a new leader chosen, and I've accepted that."

The Liberals' performance at the polls resulted in Gerrard and other high-ranking Liberals quietly beginning merger talks with the Green party, which does not have a seat.

Those talks were abruptly killed by party directors earlier this year until the idea could be openly discussed at this weekend's meeting. Two board members, Harry Wolbert and Sandra Hoskins, also had their memberships suspended because they had revealed internal discussions about the merger.

A resolution to be debated calls for the Liberals and Greens to work co-operatively on some issues, as they've done in the past. It also calls for a plebiscite on a merger if favourable to both parties.

"There's a number of resolutions and the question of any association with the Green party has been raised by grassroots members and there will be a discussion," Gerrard said.

The meeting will be at the Norwood Hotel.

The Liberals also said in a statement their $125,000 debt has been cut to less than $25,000 since the election.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

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