Manitoba’s NDP to choose new leader Saturday
Manitoba’s NDP will have a new man in charge by the end of the day Saturday.
Delegates from across the province are coming to Winnipeg for the party’s leadership convention, where they will be asked to vote for either Wab Kinew or Steve Ashton.
The new leader is expected to be crowned by 2:45 p.m. CT.
Kinew is a high-profile candidate and rookie MLA, first elected in 2016. The former CBC broadcaster is an author, rapper and Indigenous-rights activist.
But Kinew has been surrounded by controversy ever since he launched his first political campaign last year.
Manitoba NDP MLA Wab Kinew speaks to media after the provincial throne speech at the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg, Monday, May 16, 2016. (John Woods/The Canadian Press)
During that campaign, he apologized for misogynistic and homophobic song lyrics he wrote as a rapper. Shortly after that, tweets he had sent years earlier making fun of gays, lesbians, First Nations children and overweight women came to light.
This week, Kinew’s ex-partner came forward saying he threw her across a room in 2004, leaving her with rug burn on her legs. Domestic assault charges were laid but later stayed by the Crown, and Kinew denies the allegations.
Ashton hopes 3rd time will be the charm
Ashton is no stranger to politics, with decades of experience under his belt as an MLA and cabinet minister for the province.
But Ashton is not currently an MLA. He lost his seat in Thompson — which he’d held since 1981 — last year to Progressive Conservative Kelly Bindle.
Saturday’s vote won’t be his first attempt to win leadership of the party — he’s run unsuccessfully twice.
Manitoba NDP leadership candidate Steve Ashton delivers his candidate speech at the Manitoba NDP Convention in Winnipeg, Sunday, March 8, 2015. (John Woods/The Canadian Press)
The veteran politician also got involved in the Kinew controversy, saying his rival didn’t go far enough to explain his past domestic assault charges — something one political expert thinks may have been a mistake.
“Mr. Ashton got his hands dirty as well. It probably would have been better for him just to stay out of it,” said University of Manitoba political studies professor Royce Koop.
Koop said the revelations about Kinew’s past have tainted a leadership race that should have been a great time for the NDP.
“It really is kind of the worst possible outcome for the party.”
The NDP has been without a permanent leader since last April, when former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger resigned after the PCs crushed his government, ending 17 years of NDP government in Manitoba.
NDP MLA Flor Marcelino (Logan) has been acting as interim leader for the party.
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In April, Kinew said he had 558 delegates supporting him while 339 were behind Ashton. The NDP wouldn’t confirm those numbers Friday and everyone is free to vote however they wish Saturday.
As many as 1,425 people could cast a ballot in the election Saturday.
Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/ndp-manitoba-vote-2017-1.4291711?cmp=rss