[RCO]

Pallister aims to be next Manitoba Tory leader

8:10 am, April 11th, 2012


Brian Pallister, former Portage-Lisgar MP outside his office in Portage la Prairie Manitoba on Oct. 28, 2011.

Credits: ANGELA BROWN/WMI AGENCY


ROSS ROMANIUK | QMI AGENCY

WINNIPEG -- Former Tory MP and provincial cabinet minister Brian Pallister wants to lead the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party back into power, and put the province on a more prosperous path.
Pallister, 57, told QMI Agency on Tuesday of his intention to vie for the leadership, which will be decided next fall after Hugh McFadyen steps down from the post he has held for more than five years.

"A great province, with tremendous assets at the crossroads of the world, deserves a great government. What we have is less than that," Pallister said of the New Democratic Party, which has governed Manitoba since 1999.

"We have a province that's too good to lose. We have, for a number of years now, been sliding backward."

The Portage la Prairie-born chartered financial consultant -- also a former high school teacher -- added that the NDP, under former premier Gary Doer and currently Greg Selinger, has failed Manitobans with weak economic stewardship.

"We've got a spending problem in this province," he said. "And that spending problem has weakened us at a time when we should have been stronger."

He plans to announce his candidacy for the helm of the PC Party of Manitoba on Wednesday morning.

Pallister began his political career 20 years ago, though it's been nearly four years since he last held elected office -- most recently as an MP under Prime Minister Stephen Harper in what was then a minority Conservative government.

Under Harper, Pallister was appointed chairman of a Commons finance committee and later became parliamentary secretary for international trade and international co-operation.

He entered the House of Commons in November 2000 as a Canadian Alliance MP, winning the seat for Portage-Lisgar while the Liberals were re-elected with a majority government. In 2003, he endorsed Harper for the leadership of what became a merged entity of the Progressive Conservatives and Alliance, newly named the Conservative Party of Canada.

Prior to holding federal office, Pallister ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the federal PCs in 1998, in a race ultimately won by former prime minister Joe Clark.

That effort followed his five years as a Manitoba Tory MLA, representing his home riding beginning in 1992 and eventually serving under then-premier Gary Filmon as minister of government services -- a portfolio that allowed him to wage a government battle against regulatory red tape.

"I'm comfortable in my own skin. I don't bull**** people," said Pallister, a Charleswood resident, husband and father of two daughters.

"I'll stand up to things that I think are wrong. This is important. It's not about being nice to everybody. It's about being real with everybody. That's what I strive to do."

The Tories will elect their new leader on Oct. 27. Pallister is so far the only declared hopeful in the race.


http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/s.....81001.html

[Daveeire]

Too bad he didn't do it one or two leadership races ago - better late...

[RCO]

( looks like nobody else ran for the job so Brian Pallister is new Manitoba pc leader )


Brian Pallister takes over Tory leadership in Manitoba

CBC News

Posted: Jul 28, 2012 7:21 PM CT

Last Updated: Jul 28, 2012 7:56 PM CT
Read 51 comments51


Brian Pallister is the new leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative party after a nomination process ended on the weekend with him being the only person seeking the job.

Pallister replaces Hugh McFadyen, who announced he was stepping down after disappointing results in the provincial election held last fall.

Pallister suggested Monday he would seek election in the Fort Whyte consituency. He said he will focus on rebuilding the party in the run-up to the next election. "It's a significant rebuilding job," he said. "Much work has been done but there's a tremendous amount of work still to be done."

In the Oct. 2011 election, the NDP won 37 of the province's 57 seats, the PCs earned 19 seats, and Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard kept that party's sole seat.

Pallister, a financial analyst, previously served as a Manitoba MLA for Portage la Prairie from 1992 to 1997, and as a federal MP for Portage-Lisgar from 2000 to 2008 — first as a member of the Canadian Alliance and then as a member of the Conservative Party after the merger of the Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties.

While with the provincial government he was a cabinet minister under Gary Filmon, the premier at the time.

NDP officials suggested Monday that a byelection in Fort Whyte, giving Pallister an opportunity to gain a seat in the Manitoba Legislature, is likely to come sooner rather than later.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/.....20728.html

[RCO]

( not that there was any doubt he' win but he now has a seat , odd its in winnipeg as his federal seal was very rural )

Manitoba Tory leader Brian Pallister secures seat
Updated
7:29 am, September 5th, 2012
10:16 pm, September 4th, 2012

Manitoba PC leader Brian Pallister

Credits: ANGELA BROWN/QMI AGENCY


JOYANNE PURSAGA | QMI AGENCY

WINNIPEG - Manitoba's new Tory leader now has a seat in the Manitoba Llgislature to call his own.
Brian Pallister's landslide win in Fort Whyte Tuesday came with a more than 900-vote victory. Pallister, Manitoba's Progressive Conservative leader, earned about 52% of the votes while second-place finisher, easily outpacing his next closest challenger, Liberal Bob Axworthy, and three other candidates.

"It's a great night in Fort Whyte," said Pallister, later adding, "Our party is just beginning."

Along with his MLA seat, Pallister now qualifies to become Manitoba's official Opposition leader, a role which brings a series of new challenges -- including the battle to prevent the NDP from winning its fifth consecutive government in the next election in three years.

Pallister did not address these challenges in his acceptance speech Tuesday, where he declined media questions and promised a Wednesday press conference. The PC leader did answer a couple questions about his win as he left supporters at his campaign office, though.

"I'm feeling awesome. It's just incredible," said Pallister.

Pallister brings plenty of political experience to the job, including five years as a Manitoba MLA and eight years as a federal MP, ending in 2008.

The traditionally Conservative riding was left vacant after former Progressive Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen resigned.

The NDP's Brandy Schmidt, the Green Party's Donnie Benham, and independent Darrell Ackman also ran. Ackman, who garnered the most headlines during the campaign after announcing his candidacy shortly after being charged with prostitution- and child pornography-related offences, won 18 votes.

Voter participation in the byelection was quite low, with roughly 35% of voters casting a ballot, according to Elections Manitoba.


http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/s.....21652.html

[cosmostein]

Brian Pallister is popular, but the reality is that as long as the Liberal Party of Manitoba continues to secure support in the 8 - 12% range the NDP will always walk up the middle.