Liberals need more contested nominations

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/01/2016 (3917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Let’s be very clear about this. If I want to choose somebody, I will tell you that I’m choosing somebody. I’ve never said in any shape or form that if I want a quality person in an area, I have as leader the right to appoint — our process allows us to appoint. And when I’m appointing, I will appoint. And I will do it openly and proudly. The releases will say that I’ve appointed. There should be no misunderstanding. I’m not saying that I won’t appoint, because I will. And where there’s contested, there’s contested.”

— Manitoba Liberal Leader Rana Bokhari, in an interview with The Brandon Sun

Yes, Ms. Bokhari, that is very clear. However, it’s simply not accurate. The press releases by the Manitoba Liberal Party have been, at best, ambiguous on this point. Let’s look at three released in the last two months.

On Nov. 4, the Liberals announced that Vanessa Hamilton would be the candidate in Brandon East for the 2016 provincial election. The press release did not mention whether she was appointed by Bokhari, elected by the membership, or acclaimed as the sole candidate.

For the record, after questioning by The Brandon Sun, we were told that Hamilton was appointed as the candidate, as “there was no nomination meeting held.” Bokhari told us there would be a candidate “celebration” in Brandon some time after the announcement.

Then on Dec. 18, the party announced that well-known Winnipeg restaurateur Noel Bernier had been nominated to run for the party in the constituency of Point Douglas. This is fine, of course — Bernier is the president of FB Hospitality Group and owns such Winnipeg restaurants as Hermanos Restaurant and Wine Bar, Barley Brothers and Prairie 360. But again, there was no actual nomination meeting, something that was not clear in the press release.

And then, just a few days later on Dec. 30, the Liberals announced a second candidate for Point Douglas — Althea Guiboche, who is known as the Bannock Lady in Winnipeg. She is a fine candidate for what it’s worth. She is the winner of numerous awards for her work, including the Oscar Lathlin Memorial Award in 2013. She also won the Manitoba Hero award in 2014 and a Human Rights Commitment award in 2014.

Perhaps understandably, the Liberals are touting her as a “star candidate.” But as a result, Bernier slid over to the St. Johns constituency in Winnipeg, instead of making the two fight it out for the nomination.

And again, Guiboche — like Bernier and Hamilton — did not face any competition, but were instead appointed. And none of this was noted in the press release.

Why does this matter? Well, in part it comes down to being honest. And in at least these three cases, the Liberal party did not actually say the candidates were chosen directly by the party leader.

It also points to one of two realities on the ground for the third-party Liberals. Either the party is having a difficult time trying to recruit people to run — even with the Liberal brand’s apparent surge in recent polls — or Bokhari and her campaign team are doing everything in their power to control who runs for the party, rather than leave it up to local associations and potential candidates.

The reality is that, while there have been a few contested nomination races for the Liberal party in the lead-up to the April 19 election, the majority have been appointed. And as of yesterday, the party still had to announce, appoint or elect candidates in at least 30 out of 57 constituencies, including Brandon West.

And as Bokhari said in an interview with the Sun that we published yesterday, she is still looking for people to step forward in Brandon West to seek the nomination — or should we say, the appointment.

This isn’t really surprising. The Manitoba Liberal leader has the gargantuan task of trying to rebuild a political brand that has been shunted to the political wilderness for so many years, it’s a wonder the party is a force in this election at all.

But for a party trying to appear as legitimate contenders to form government, while at the same time build grassroots excitement — with an election little more than three months away — the dearth of contested nominations is a real problem.