PC leadership race a ‘flawed process’: Former cabinet minister

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This article was published 29/10/2021 (1791 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former longtime Westman MLA says flaws in the Progressive Conservative leadership race could call into question the legitimacy of Saturday’s and is calling for a 30-day extension to the voting deadline alongside candidate Shelly Glover.

According to former cabinet minister Len Derkach, there are plenty of party members in the Russell area who still haven’t received their ballots in the mail as the Friday afternoon deadline for votes to be submitted is fast approaching, among other problems.

In a separate interview, Glover said “thousands” of ballots are affected and called for her party to fix the “broken process” so that all of its members can have their say in selecting Maniitoba’s next premier.

Derkach served seven terms in the Manitoba legislature in the constituencies of Roblin-Russell and Russell, also serving as minister of education and minister of rural development under the Gary Filmon government of the 1980s and ‘90s.

“The process was flawed from day one because of the shortness of the time of the campaign,” Derkach told the Sun in a phone interview. “In my own mind, I found it difficult to understand how the party expected credible candidates to reach out to people throughout the province. This isn’t a city election, it’s an election of the leader of a party for the entire province.”

While he was successful in inviting both leadership candidates, Heather Stefanson and Shelly Glover, to speak to party members in the Russell area, Derkach said communicating with the party has been challenging during the campaign.

“I realized in the latter part of this campaign that thousands of Manitobans, [especially] rural Manitobans, had not received ballots yet and the time was getting very close to when ballots couldn’t be mailed back and reasonably be expected to arrive in time,” he said. “I tried to reach the party on several occasions. I called by telephone and each time I called, I was just given a voice mail [saying] their lines were busy and they couldn’t take the call right now.”

Frustrated by the lack of response, Derkach contacted Glover’s campaign, which had told him they’d noticed the same problem and that six polling stations would be set up around the province, including Brandon and Dauphin.

This was also reported by CBC Wednesday evening.

The problem with those stations, according to Derkach, is that they’re being run during the middle of the workday in locations that people in rural Manitoba, like in the Russell area, will have a hard time getting to.

Derkach said he heard from a local businessman who was told his ballot would be sent by courier to his location but had yet to arrive as of Thursday morning. Because he has to run his business, he won’t be able to make it to one of the polling stations on Friday.

Another party member contacted the Sun on Facebook, explaining he had not received a ballot as of Wednesday.

“To get to Dauphin from my end of the country, you’re looking at [at] least an hour and a half [drive],” Derkach added. “If you’re coming from Swan River or The Pas, or Flin Flon for that matter, you probably couldn’t get there unless you left early in the morning. And yet, there’s been nothing yet communicated that this is going to happen and where.

“This is a flawed process. This is not the kind of party that I have belonged to for many, many years, where we allowed for people to participate in an equal fashion and where anybody who has a membership is entitled to vote.”

In interviews with the Sun earlier this week, Glover expressed many of the same concerns with the process as Derkach, while Stefanson downplayed the issues.

“I’m very disappointed because this is now about democracy,” Glover said about the missing ballots, which her team has been calling attention to for weeks. “It’s not even about winning or losing. I’m fighting to make sure every member has an opportunity to vote … When you count the high number of spoiled ballots, along with people who have never received a ballot, we’re talking thousands.”

Both Glover and Derkach had the same proposal to ensure fairness in the process: extend the voting period by 30 days to make sure every party member has a chance to get their ballot in.

“And so far they’ve said no,” Glover said. “And I think that’s disrespectful to members. Let the chips fall where they may, but make sure members have their say … That’s been my belief in this party from the beginning.”

Stefanson said every leadership race has its challenges.

“We’re just focused as a team on ensuring that our ballots go out and that our members who are supporting us have an opportunity to vote, so we’re focusing on that. We’ve had some positive feedback from people in the community, and we’ll continue to work with them going forward.”

If the party continues as originally scheduled, Derkach believes it will be a detriment to both candidates as people complain about the legitimacy of the process.

“Mr. [interim Premier Kelvin] Goertzen is a very capable person,” he said. “I sat in the legislature with Kelvin; he’s a very capable individual. He can certainly continue to serve in the role that he has taken on for the next 30 days without question.”

The Sun contacted the PC party to request an interview with a spokesperson regarding the ballot issues but did not receive a reply by press time.

— With files from Kyle Darbyson

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