I’m headed to in an interview today with one of the candidates for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party of Manitoba.
Earlier in the week, the Empire-Advance was contacted by her campaign manager to advise us of candidate Shelly Glover’s schedule.
On Friday, Sept. 24, Glover is out and about in Westman, spending the day between Virden Golf Club at 1 :30 and several other businesses right in Virden later that afternoon, before heading back east.
In the days ahead the Empire-Advance will also contact candidate Heather Stefanson, the apparent front-runner in the race to become leader and premier of Manitoba for at least part of a term.
One of the issues at stake in this pandemic-ridden time is nursing care. The Manitoba Nurses Union has approached the two candidates for their response.
The MNU have submitted the following details to the press:
Last Thursday, Sept. 16, MNU sent each of the PC Party leadership candidates, Heather Stefanson and Shelly Glover, a pledge for them to read and sign, as a statement of their good faith intention to resolve the nurse staffing crisis.
Candidate Stefanson signed the pledge while candidate Glover reached out to MNU President Darlene Jackson by telephone over the weekend and stated that she wants to work with MNU.
MNU asks PC Manitoba leadership candidates to pledge:
To acknowledge that Manitoba is experiencing a critical nursing shortage;
To work with the leadership of the Manitoba Nurses Union to address this critical nursing shortage;
To improve working conditions for nurses across Manitoba;
To provide information in a timely, open and transparent manner to the Manitoba Nurses Union; To be more open and honest with the Manitoba Nurses Union and the public about the situation nursing is in, including providing staffing statistics and data for all health regions in the province;
To improve nurse recruitment potential by making Manitoba a more attractive jurisdiction in which to practice nursing;
To do everything possible, as Premier of Manitoba, to repair the relationship between this provincial government and nurses, and to allocate the resources needed to stabilize the nursing situation in Manitoba;
To ensure timely collective bargaining during my tenure so that Manitoba can retain the nurses currently practicing here, and by addressing their long-standing concerns and stagnant compensation, which has remained unchanged since October of 2016.
