By Canadian Press

Tory Leader Heather Stefanson to be sworn in as Manitoba’s new premier

Nov 2, 2021 | 10:41 AM

WINNIPEG — Manitoba is set to make history today when the province’s first female premier is sworn into office.

On Saturday, the governing Progressive Conservatives chose Heather Stefanson as their new leader and the province’s next premier.

She will also become the only woman serving as premier in the 10 provinces.

Stefanson was first elected as a legislature member in 2000 and has held the Tuxedo constituency in Winnipeg ever since.

Shelly Glover, who lost to Stefanson with 49 per cent of the ballot count, has challenged the results and called for the swearing-in ceremony to be delayed. 

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The former member of Parliament had complained throughout the leadership race that many party members didn’t receive their ballots in time.

Through her lawyer, Glover wrote to Manitoba’s lieutenant-governor Monday asking for the delay so she could contest the outcome of the leadership vote in court.

The head of the Tory leadership committee said on the weekend that every effort was made to allow people to vote and no one was deliberately denied a ballot.

Stefanson has promised a different tone than her predecessor, Brian Pallister, who stepped down in September after dropping significantly in opinion polls following controversial remarks about the history of Indigenous people and the Tory government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I heard loud and clear that (Manitobans) want to see us take a much more collaborative approach when it comes to working with other levels of government and with stakeholders in our community,” Stefanson said in her victory speech Saturday.

But Stefanson also didn’t escape criticism when she was in charge of the health file during the province’s worst wave of the pandemic. She was health minister last spring when dozens of patients in intensive care had to be flown to other provinces due to a lack of beds.

She has also served as deputy premier, justice minister and minister of families since the Progressive Conservatives won a large majority in 2016.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2021

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press