Ousted politician plans legal challenge

A Manitoba politician who was kicked out of the governing Progressive Conservative caucus says he’s planning a court challenge against a law that forbids him from joining another party’s caucus.

Steven Fletcher, who was dumped by the Tories last Friday, said Tuesday a provincial law that forbids him — or any other Manitoba politician — from crossing the legislature floor is unconstitutional.

“That goes against almost every tradition that exists for our parliamentary democratic systems,” Fletcher told The Canadian Press.

“I’ve given instructions to my lawyer to file the necessary paperwork to have the law thrown out on a constitutional basis.”

The law was brought in by the former NDP government in 2006 in response to a controversy that erupted when David Emerson left the federal Liberals, weeks after being elected, to join the Conservatives. Then-premier Gary Doer said the aim was to ensure voters’ wishes at the ballot box are respected.

The Manitoba law stipulates that any legislature member who ceases to belong to a caucus must sit as an independent until the next election, or resign and run in a byelection under their new party banner.

Fletcher, who served as a member of Parliament between 2004 and 2015 and was Canada’s first quadriplegic MP, said he believes there is no similar law elsewhere in the British Commonwealth.

Fletcher was removed from the provincial Tory caucus after criticizing a proposed law that would create a new Crown agency to promote energy efficiency. He tied up two public hearings on the bill by asking questions late into the night.

A spokesperson for Justice Minister Heather Stefanson would not say if the government will fight Fletcher’s planned legal action. There will be no formal response until legal documents are filed, press secretary Kalen Qually wrote in an email.