Addressing the legislature on Tuesday, Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen accused his Thompson counterpart of going back on a verbal agreement to oppose Premier Greg Selinger in last year’s NDP leadership race.
But fellow New Democrat MLA Theresa Oswald, who was also implicated, denies Pettersen’s claim.
Pettersen spoke about last year’s NDP leadership race, which involved Selinger, Oswald and Thompson MLA and cabinet minister Steve Ashton. Pettersen endorsed Oswald.
Pettersen alleged that Oswald and Ashton had agreed that should one of them finish third on the first ballot, that candidate would throw their support behind the other in order to help defeat Selinger.
Ashton finished third on the first ballot but did not openly endorse either Oswald or Selinger. Some of his supporters got behind Selinger, according to the Winnipeg Free Press, and the incumbent premier clung to the leadership by 33 votes.
“There was an agreement with the minister from Thompson that the status quo [supporting Selinger] is not a choice. We had dinner over that,” Pettersen told the legislature, as quoted by the Free Press. “He [Ashton] would support [Oswald] on the second ballot and we would support him.”
In an interview with The Reminder, Pettersen repeated the claim, saying there was an understanding in place but no written agreement.
The Reminder contacted the Manitoba NDP to request an interview with Ashton on Tuesday afternoon. The party emailed back a link to a Winnipeg Sun article in which Oswald flatly denied Pettersen’s claim.
"I must be clear in saying there was no deal between Steve and I. Not ever," Oswald told the newspaper.
Separately, Oswald told the Free Press that she likes Pettersen and had no explanation for his remarks.
Tuesday marked the final sitting of the legislature before the April 19 election. It was also Pettersen’s last appearance in the legislature as an NDP MLA, as he lost the party nomination to Tom Lindsey. Pettersen will be announcing whether he will seek re-election as an independent.
See Friday’s print edition of The Reminder for more on this story and Pettersen’s future plans.
