WINNIPEG – Manitoba Opposition Leader Brian Pallister wants the governing New Democrats to review the leadership vote which Premier Greg Selinger won.
Accusations that Selinger’s team struck a deal with a firefighters union to support the premier call the results into question, the Manitoba Progressive Conservative leader said.
Some delegates to the convention last weekend had their fees covered by the candidates, he added. That may have been an unfair inducement to get votes, Pallister said.
Officials at NDP headquarters should review complaints and determine whether the vote was fair, he said.
Selinger eked out a second-ballot victory over second-place finisher Theresa Oswald by winning 51 per cent of the vote.
READ MORE: Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger back at work after clinging to job
Some paramedics have said Selinger secured important votes from the firefighters union by promising to help them in a dispute with paramedics. Both Selinger’s team and the firefighters union deny any deal was made.
Pallister admitted that, as an outsider, his call for a review may not hold much sway with New Democrats, but he believes the air must be cleared.
“The NDP has an opportunity here to set the record straight,” he said Friday.
“If it believes the process was perfect — and it decides to say that — that’s the decision it has to take. But the concerns I’m hearing from Manitobans … are very real.”
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