Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen says his past calls for the premier to resign helped inspire his union-backed “overthrow” as the riding’s NDP candidate.
Now Tom Lindsey, a long-time union activist, will carry the NDP banner in the Flin Flon constituency when voters head to the provincial polls in April.
A hotly contested nomination race leaves Pettersen without a party to call home after a single term that brought massive investments to the riding along with discontent in the party ranks.
In a concession speech last Friday, Dec. 11, moments after the result was announced, Pettersen alternated between congratulating Lindsey and criticizing his own opponents and the nomination process itself.
“Anytime anybody runs in politics, I always respect that,” Pettersen told 20-plus people, mostly party members, on hand for the announcement. “I don’t know what the count was, but we had 300 people [the actual number was 269] vote, I guess, out of 10,000 in the constituency. That’s not really democratic, but that’s the way it is within our party, so congratulations, Tom.”
Pettersen posed a question to himself – “Am I happy with this?” – and answered it explicitly: “Absolutely not.”
“I’m not happy at all,” he continued. “When I go in, when I go to the union, I always go in the front door. And it bothers me that some people come in the back door, took advantage of the situation, whether I was sick or [had] pneumonia, and I would never do that to anybody, and that’s the way I feel.”
Pettersen said two party members “plotted” the nomination, adding: “And it worked out and you did well and that’s part of politics. And I’m saying, yeah, that’s great. Will I support you in this? Absolutely not. So good luck and I hope you do well.”
In a subsequent interview with the Canadian Press, Pettersen expounded on his speech.
He said it seemed local union members were against him in part because he called on Premier Greg Selinger to resign in 2014.
“My premier asked for my honesty and I gave it to him,” Pettersen told the news agency.
“I think maybe that’s why the union ... wanted to overthrow me. And it worked.”
In rising from his chair to accept the NDP nomination, Lindsey thanked Pettersen for his service to the constituency and province.
“All I can do is build on what Clarence has done and build on what the NDP has done…in this constituency,” he told party members gathered in the lower level of the Flin Flon Public Library.
When asked about his priorities in an interview, Lindsey spoke of the economy and the need for opportunity.
“There’s a lot things that we need to do,” he said. “I mean, there’s been recent news about what’s happening at Hudbay Minerals, which is our major employer in Flin Flon. It’s not the only employer in the Flin Flon constituency, [but] we need to figure out for the city of Flin Flon what it’s going to look like going forward and how we’re going to make sure that the city of Flin Flon remains.”
First Nations communities, Lindsey said, are “being left out” and this must change.
“They don’t have clean water, they don’t have the same things that we take for granted,” he said. “So there’s a bunch of issues there that we need to address. Employment. Opportunity. Opportunity is what we need for everybody.”
A long-time Flin Flon resident, Lindsey said he brings experience representing people from his years as a union steward, executive member and health and safety rep for USW Local 7106, Hudbay’s largest union.
He said he represented people within and outside of the union on matters such as the environment, taxes and “all kinds of issues.”
“I believe that’s what will do me well going forward,” Lindsey added. “I’ve been a strong NDP person for 40 years, so I’ve got that background as well. So that’s why I chose to run and that’s why I’m confident that I can do a good job as the MLA.”
As for a disappointed Pettersen, he repeated an old adage: “As one door closes, other doors can open.”
Pettersen remains Flin Flon’s NDP MLA until the next election, which will be held April 19, 2016, but he won’t be the NDP candidate in that election.
A retired teacher, Pettersen became MLA in 2011 with 57 per cent of the vote. He says his term has seen the province commit or spend over $150 million in the constituency, with a new Flin Flon ER and a modern dorm for Cranberry Portage’s Frontier Collegiate among the major projects.
The nomination race saw 269 party members cast ballots by mail. The ballots were brought to the Flin Flon Public Library on Dec. 11, at which time a party official counted them.
Scrutineers representing both Pettersen and Lindsey observed the tallying. Party members were not told how many votes either of the men captured.
