Manitoba NDP leadership
The polls are open, and let's not kid ourselves, that there will be a change in leadership for the Manitoba NDP shortly after the ballots are counted. Who should that be?
The immediate problem is that very few Cacus members know what it's like to be in opposition. These few are (assuming they are all re-elected) are Dave Chomiak, Steve Ashton, Eric Robinson, and Jim Malloway. I think it would be wise to pick an interim leader from this group who can draw on their experiences of the 1990s. This will help them steer the the rest of the Caucus and the Opposition will begin to draw blood right out of the gate. Of this group, I think Chomiak and Ashton are good choices. Eric Robinson would also be a good choice, not only to send a positive message to First Nations, but to Manitobans who live outside Winnipeg that their votes and voices matter.
This will allow a time of transition so that the party can find someone who can build on this and win in 2020. Who can win in 2020? Kevin Chief has been discussed a great deal, so no need to speak to that right now. I think Sharon Blady should seriously consider a run, even if she loses her own seat. I saw her at a poverty forum, and she did a bang-up job defending the NDP, which is no easy feat for a government that's been in power with the baggage that's associated with that. How about Nahani Fontaine? Not only would it be great to see a First Nation's women leading this province, but she has the additional benefit of having no personal connections to any of the unpopular decisions the outgoing government has made. Is there someone else we don't know about?
No.
1) The federal party is in crisis to the point that no seat in the country is safe for them. The distraction of a by-election by itself is something the federal party doesn't need, and it will hurt the party even more should the Liberals take the seat, which they would have a good chance of doing.
2) People are tired of the "same old, same old." While Nikki is great on so many issues and has worked so hard, her dad is a prominent provincial politician. That means should she run there will be a public perception that it's just "hangers on" who want to continue in the NDP, and that won't help with the rebuilding.
Oh yes, there's a great deal of work that needs to be done. The NDP needs to have an open discussions about its shortcomings without responding by saying, "but Tories are BAD, Tories are BAD, Tories are BAD!"
Wab Kinew does seem to have won in Fort Rouge. He might be worth looking at in this situation.
Timebandit said so......Liberal leader in 3rd
Looks like everyone who served in opposition in the '90s is out (with the exception of Malloway) so my original strategy wasn't going to work.
Looks like Maloway is the only one left standing...
Yeah, what happened up North in Thompson and Keewatinook?
Jim Maloway is not fit for NDP leadership. He was within 50 or so votes of losing Elmwood (neighbouring Matt Wiebe in Concordia did much better). There is a reason he was never in cabinet.
He should not have had to conceal his party affiliation to hold on.
This exposes an elephant in the room. Other than Malloway, nobody in the Caucus has the experience of being in Opposition. There are few MLAs who I feel have "the stuff" to lead the Official Opposition, and since they will probably run for leader, that rules them out as interim.
Watch for Pallister to smile to the public while his team crushes the NDP during debates in the Legislature.
Selinger is the third NDP leader to lose the post in 2 and a half weeks. Make no mistake, the NDP is in an existential crisis right now.
Could Selinger hang around as interim leader until a new leader is chosen? There is no need to wait years to do that - why not pick a new leader this fall and get it over with - most people think the job is Kevin Chief's if he wants it - and why wouldnt he!
If the leadership vote is set definitively within the next six months to a year.
I don't think so. He was the most unpopular of all the leaders, and having just led the party to a massive defeat, he would have no credibility.
I agree with many of Steve Ashton's proposed reforms:
The NDP needs to become democratic in more than just name. That means one member one vote in a mail-in ballot or some other secure method. The last thing they need is a delegated leadership convention where unions get to send a large number of delegates based on the size of the union. With one member one vote all NDP union members will have an equal vote just like anyone else that wants to join the party.
Krop, I find it ironic that unions talk about workplace democracy when they tend to stand in the way of internal democracy at least in the Manitoba NDP. It was the Manitoba Federation of Labour that lobbied the Manitoba NDP to go back to a delegated leadership convention in the first place. The MFL also had a piece in the Winnipeg Free Press about why Pallister's proposal to drop card check and go to secrot ballot voting was bad. Seriously? Is that the extent of what the MFL was doing, hoping for an NDP government to stay in power forever and ever? Why are they not out there actively engaging their own members and also regular people who aren't sure why union rights are for them even if they aren't unionized? I actually wonder what the MFL got for its trouble. It's still legal to hire scabs in strikes or lockouts, unions still have to sign up 65% of people organizing a workplace for it to be automatic (this was a change brought in by the last PC government under Filmon) and 17 years of NDP government have not reversed the general decline in the percentage of the workforce that is unionized.
So reports are out that Flor Marcelino has been chosen as an interim leader. Any thoughts on this? She certainly didn't have a high profile before, and I'm not sure how she is at being in Opposition, let alone leader. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a bad feeling that under her watch that the NDP will be steamrolled in the House. To be fair, however, it's not as if there were very many remaining Caucus members up to the job, and the few that might be are obviously going to go for the permanent post, whenever that is opened.
If she is the caucus choice for interim leader then she is likely the right person.
My problem is that I don't have a great deal of confidence in the Caucus that remains to begin with. Nearly all the party's heavy hitters either didn't run or were defeated.
That is precisely why I have some hope for them. The new faces seem promising and since most of the old guard is gone maybe they can have a real renewal instead of recycling the party's heavy hitters who frankly from afar seem to have done the province little good over the last few years.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Marcelino is the first Filipino leader of the opposition anywhere in Canada.
Wait for the rubber-stamp of council.
Mark 2017 on your calendars:
Have no fear, Kevin Chief is being groomed by Selinger and Co as his annointed successor. The party will remain in the same hands.
What's going on that would make you suggest that?
Look at the front bench.
Or not:
Who will lift the poisoned chalice in his stead?
Well, I've heard the names Wab Kinew and Nahanni Fontaine floated about, which I suppose can be a plus considering that neither one has any connection to the government that was just ousted.
Stuck in the mire with Selinger:
I'm starting to suspect that Ken Burch was right about Selinger's motives. He's been at the top, what else is left for him as an MLA? Who is he taking lessons from, Tom Mulcair?
Speaking of leadership, now that he said he for sure does not want it on a permanent basis, is there any way we can sack Marcelino and install Chief as the Interim Leader?
Now he's resigning as an MLA
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/kevin-chief-resigns-1.3896978