COLUMN: Think Again – Who is the real Shelly Glover?

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This article was published 23/12/2021 (1234 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shelly Glover has had a distinguished career, first as a Winnipeg police officer and later as a federal cabinet minister.

When Glover announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party, everyone knew she was a serious contender. Glover campaigned hard and came within a few hundred votes of winning.

However, citing concerns about the voting process, Glover refused to concede and went to court to challenge the result. After hearing from both sides, Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice James Edmond found that, on balance, the PC Party conducted the election in a fair and proper manner. As a result, Edmond dismissed Glover’s bid to throw out the election result.

Edmond’s decision was both definitive and final. Even Glover’s own lawyer acknowledged that the judge’s ruling didn’t leave much room for an appeal. This should have ended the matter.

Unfortunately, Glover doesn’t seem to agree. That same evening, she participated in an hour-long interview with Todd McDougall from Winnipeg Alternative Media. I listened to the whole interview, and I must confess that it left me confused.

At times, Glover sounded reasonable and balanced. She said that she accepted Judge Edmond’s ruling and described him as a “wonderful judge, respected by many in the field.” Glover also spoke highly of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper and said he was one of best prime ministers Canada has ever had. She also warned about the dangers of splitting the conservative vote and emphasized the importance of taking a “much more moderate path forward.”

But, in other parts of the interview, Glover said some downright bizarre things. She claimed that “The fix was in” and that party officials were never going to let her win. This indicates that she actually doesn’t accept the judge’s ruling. Glover also described herself as “politically homeless” and praised the organizers behind the Keystone Party, a new right-wing provincial party. So much for not splitting the conservative vote.

Glover even said that she will not support the federal Conservative Party in the next election. Despite her previously stated desire for moderation, Glover said she cannot support Conservative leader Erin O’Toole’s policy flip flops (which moved the party to the centre). Instead, she plans to help candidates who want to be involved in politics, whatever that means.

As for public health orders and vaccines, Glover was all over the map. At some points, she emphasized the seriousness of COVID-19 and chastised those who dismissed it as merely the flu. Glover also said the province cannot simply drop the public health restrictions and added that we need to accept that “We are never going back to the way things used to be.” This unusually hardline position goes far beyond what any provincial officials have said to this point.

However, Glover also raised serious doubts about the safety of vaccines, particularly for children. “I am very afraid of what is to come with this vaccine that we don’t have the time-tested research on it that will satisfy my anxiety,” stated Glover. These ill-informed comments feed vaccine hesitancy and undermine public health efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible.

In the end, I don’t know what Shelly Glover stands for. Is she a principled, yet pragmatic, conservative in the mold of Stephen Harper who knows how to build consensus and govern effectively? Or is she a populist agitator like People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier who panders to conspiracy theorists and has no real plan to ever form government? Based on what I heard, either of these options seems to be a real possibility.

It’s time for the real Shelly Glover to stand up.

 

Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and a Steinbach city councillor. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.