Seeing red over Gerrard

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/02/2012 (5351 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba Liberal board member and candidate in last fall’s election is calling for the immediate resignation of party leader Jon Gerrard for his handling of merger talks with the Green party.

Sandra Hoskins, who finished third for the Liberals in Dawson Trail on Oct. 4, wrote in a web blog Monday Gerrard should step down for agreeing to discussions with the Greens weeks before board members found out about it during a planning session last Saturday.

Hoskins, a management consultant, said in an interview the blog (pmalchemist.com) is aimed at Gerrard.

“Obsequious toad is probably the best description that I can come up with for this individual at the moment,” she wrote.

“The bottom line is that leadership is about influence. If you have no influence, it is time to fold up your carnival tent and steal away into the night. If you continue down this road, your legacy will be that of a carnival barker.

“Own the fact that you were never meant to have this job — your resignation is needed now rather than later. Step aside and let the organization chart a new course without your toxic influence.”

Gerrard declined comment. After his party failed to add to its one seat in the last election, Gerrard said he’d step down in 2013, but remain as MLA for River Heights.

The party said it would choose a date for a leadership contest at its annual general meeting in early May.

Hoskins said she wrote her blog after attending a weekend meeting aimed at growing the Liberal base before the 2015 election. She said that’s where committee members found out about talks with the Greens.

“It would be expected that people would know in advance, not behind,” she said. “I sort of view the Green thing as a bit of a red herring.”

“This isn’t about Jon,” she said. “It’s about the party. The decision to resign is in his hands.”

Hoskins said without significant changes, the Liberal party will cease to exist within the next three years. But she said it doesn’t include a merger with the Green party — it means the Liberals must be more dogged in getting their message out to voters.

“The Liberal Party of Manitoba has to decide what it wants to be when it grows up,” she said. “For a number of years, we have been a party in search of an identity.”

On his own blog, Gerrard said it’s logical for the Liberals to look at the possibility of further collaboration with the Greens because both share the same concerns on issues such as the environment and poverty.

“We are a democratic party and no decisions on moving forward will be made without vigorous engagement of Liberals throughout Manitoba,” he wrote.

The Green party said in a statement it has had informal conversations with the Liberals. “Clearly, someone in that group is trying to sabotage efforts to explore possible avenues (of) co-operation,” the Greens said about news of the talks being made public shortly after Saturday’s Liberal meeting.

Talks also continue among right-wing voters about the possible creation of the Manitoba Party, copying the electoral success of Premier Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party, to compete against the NDP. The Free Press was unable to verify its supporters as two identified organizers did not return phone calls.

Spokesmen for the Progressive Conservatives also declined to comment.

The Manitoba Party ran several candidates in the 1999 provincial election, but it didn’t make a dent on the political landscape.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca