Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen is calling on Greg Selinger to quit, joining a growing caucus rebellion that threatened to force the unpopular premier out of office.
Pettersen made the statement to reporters last Thursday, by which time Selinger’s future as premier already appeared bleak.
“I’m stepping up right now and saying that he should resign for the betterment of the people of Manitoba,” Pettersen, a backbencher in Selinger’s NDP government, told The Reminder.
Earlier, in an interview with Winnipeg radio station CJOB, Pettersen used a sports analogy: “In hockey, it’s much easier to get rid of your coach than your first and second line. I hope the premier does the right thing.”
By the time Pettersen spoke, several of Selinger’s cabinet ministers had already publicly suggested the premier strongly consider stepping down.
But Pettersen upped the ante by becoming, according to CBC, the first elected official from within the NDP to use the word “resign.”
Hurt chances
Pettersen feared Selinger’s unpopularity would hurt the NDP’s chances in the 2015 or 2016 election and that a victory by the Progressive Conservatives would damage the province.
“What I’m saying is that the Titanic’s going down,” Pettersen said. “Do we jump off and swim for the life raft or do we go down with? I’m saying there’s no need to go down. We’ve got a lot of good leaders in our party, and Greg’s had a great run.”
Pettersen said Selinger is “well respected within the party” but is “still carrying the necklace of the one per cent” PST increase “around his neck.”
While Pettersen supported last year’s PST hike, he said it was not properly sold to Manitobans as a necessary way to fund new infrastructure, including post-flooding work.
“I think we could have prepared the people of Manitoba for it and we should have been justifying it,” he said.
Pettersen said constituents in his riding “can see where the one per cent is going” with projects such as the revamped Highway 10A and the new ER to be built at the Flin Flon General Hospital.
He also believes signage at provincially funded project sites should include the line “where your one per cent is going” so people can see the benefits of the PST increase.
Before going public with his feeling on Selinger, Pettersen said he spent an hour speaking with the premier while he was in Flin Flon for a series of events last Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Pettersen said NDP MLAs have been talking to Selinger about their concerns since summer, so the issue is not new.
But Pettersen caught some constituents off guard by siding against the premier, particularly in light of the Selinger government’s perceived generosity to the Flin Flon Constituency.
Since Pettersen was elected MLA three years ago, the province, under Selinger, has spent or committed about $158 million for new infrastructure in the riding.
Pettersen said he thanks Selinger for his input into projects for the constituency, but the MLA is confident the riding will “continue to do well” under a different NDP premier.
Next leader?
But is anyone within the NDP caucus ready to step up and run for leader? Though there has been speculation Thompson MLA Steve Ashton wants the job, Pettersen said it’s too early to say who may or may not be interested.
“What we should be talking about is how quick Greg should step down,” Pettersen said. “There’s a lot of people that could be leaders.”
For his part, Pettersen said he has no interest in becoming NDP leader. At 62, he said he plans on seeking just one more term before retiring.
Across the aisle, the PCs are demanding that a provincial election, not an NDP leadership campaign, determine who will be the next premier.
“The only real option the premier has is to call an election and let Manitobans decide who will lead the province going forward,” the opposition party said in a news release. “Who leads the NDP into that election is not Manitobans’ problem, but ensuring the province is well governed is.”
The NDP, now three-quarters through their historic fourth consecutive mandate, continue to trail badly in the polls to the opposition PCs.
