PC Party says one letter calling for Higgs ouster is valid after all
Reversal means Tory dissidents are one letter closer to triggering leadership review
Progressive Conservative members hoping to remove Premier Blaine Higgs as leader are at least one tiny step closer to forcing the issue onto the party agenda.
Party president Erika Hachey has acknowledged to one PC riding association president whose request for a leadership review vote was declared invalid that it is valid after all.
"There was an internal error made when you had purchased your membership," Hachey wrote in a Thursday email obtained by CBC News.
According to the email, the member — whose name is blacked out in the screen image provided to CBC — bought a five-year membership but was mistakenly recorded at the time as buying a one-year membership.
That means the person is still a PC member today.
"That's been rectified so therefore we will count your letter as valid," Hachey wrote in the email.
It's a key concession by the party brass because the push to remove Higgs as leader is a numbers game.
Under the party's rules, 50 members, including 20 presidents of PC riding associations, must request a leadership review to start the process.
If that happens, the party's provincial council must debate whether to schedule a convention.
Earlier this week, Hachey told party members that the push had fallen short.
"Over 40 valid requests were received from current members," she said in an email. "Of the valid requests received, only 15 came from riding presidents."
Error raises concerns
She initially told the unnamed party member that their request "is not counted toward the minimum threshold" of 20 riding association presidents.
The reversal on Thursday means the party now has 16 riding president letters.
PC regional vice-president John Williston, part of the group trying to remove Higgs, said the error on the member's paperwork was a concern.
"It calls into question the organization of the party and certainly the clerical skills around how we're recording and maintaining our memberships."
Hachey turned down an interview request and did not respond to an email question about whether any other invalid letters have since been declared valid.
But Williston said other "invalid" members are also going over their paperwork to check for errors, including people who bought lifetime memberships when the party was selling that option a couple of decades ago.
The party has contacted each invalidated person to explain the reasoning.
Williston said in some cases, there have been "minor issues," such as members whose memberships expired a short time ago but who have been allowed to continue taking part in party functions until now.
"And it's only now they're questioning their status as party members," he said. "All I'll say is it feels a bit questionable."
Optimistic about Aug. 19 deadline
In her July 31 email to all party members declaring that the review push had fallen short, Hachey gave Tories until Aug. 19 to submit valid letters.
Williston said he believes the group will get there.
If they do that, the party's provincial council will debate on Sept. 9 whether to schedule a convention for a vote on Higgs's leadership. The council must vote by a two-thirds majority for that to happen.
Williston said that even if the vote falls short of that threshold, a substantial vote supporting a review should still prompt Higgs to step down.
"If we're in a situation where we have even 40-per-cent-plus of provincial council voting for a leadership review, I think it's really morally incumbent on the premier at that point to consider resignation and not put the party through this gut-wrenching episode."
Prompted by Policy 713 controversy
The push to remove Higgs began after two of his ministers resigned amid a controversy over his changes to Policy 713, which sets out protections for LGBTQ students in provincial schools.
Six PC ministers and MLAs voted in favour of a Liberal opposition motion in the legislature calling for Child and Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock to hold consultations on the policy changes.
The motion passed 26-20 and Lamrock said he would respect the vote and report on his findings by Aug. 15.
The two ministers who resigned, Dorothy Shephard and Trevor Holder, accused Higgs of a top-down management style that has strayed from longtime PC party principles.
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