Shelly Glover to seek order declaring PC leadership election invalid

Progressive Conservative Party leadership candidate Shelly Glover plans to ask the Court of Queen's Bench to declare Manitoba's PC leadership election invalid and order up a new election.

Dave Hill, Glover's legal counsel, wrote Manitoba Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon Monday to request a delay in swearing in Heather Stefanson as the new premier.

Stefanson won Saturday's election by 363 votes but Glover did not concede defeat, citing irregularities in the counting of votes.

"There were substantial irregularities involved in this election that impacted the result and the counting of the votes," Glover said Monday in an interview.

In the letter to Filmon, Hill said there would appear to be "substantial irregularities" that affected the result.

"As a result, I will shortly be seeking an Order of the Court of Queen's Bench declaring that the election results are invalid and requiring a new vote," Hill wrote.

"I would respectfully request that you defer the swearing in of a new Premier of Manitoba until the Court has ruled on this matter."

Stefanson will be sworn in Tuesday at 2 p.m., said a spokesperson for her campaign.

Kate Gameiro, executive director and private secretary for Lt.-Gov. Filmon, said her office will not comment on the leadership race.

A PC party spokesperson said the results of the race are what was announced Saturday.

Both the Glover and Stefanson camps said as of Wednesday, at least 1,200 of approximately 25,000 party members had not received ballots.

On Saturday, leadership selection committee chair George Orle denied claims ballots were not distributed to some party members.

"Anything about envelopes going missing or not being distributed are false," Orle said Saturday at the party's convention at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg.

Premier Kelvin Goertzen has tendered his resignation, effective Tuesday at 2 p.m., when Stefanson will be sworn in.

'Unprecedented,' professor says

Emmett Macfarlane, an associate professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, said there is no precedent for a lieutenant governor or governor general delaying the swearing in of a premier or prime minister.

"This is not just unprecedented, but would actually be contrary to the role of the lieutenant governor," he said.

Macfarlane said courts could theoretically intervene, but are not likely to do so.

"You would need to see serious and systemic irregularities with an election process," he said, adding courts are wary of weighing into the internal processes of political parties.

"That said, the parties are entitled to make their arguments before the courts and we'll see what happens."