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Manitoba·Breaking
Heather Stefanson, who was the first woman to serve as Manitoba's premier, has announced she is retiring as an MLA. Her Progressive Conservative government was defeated last October following a divisive election campaign.
CBC News
· Posted: Apr 25, 2024 3:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago
Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson is resigning as the MLA for Tuxedo.
Stefanson told the legislature Thursday she was addressing the chamber for the last time, before announcing her resignation.
She was the first woman to serve as Manitoba's premier. Her Progressive Conservative government was defeated last October following a divisive election campaign.
Stefanson stepped down as party leader in January, but had continued to serve as a member of the legislature.
She was a key player throughout the PCs' most recent tenure in office.
Stefanson, who has held the Tuxedo riding in Winnipeg for the Tories since 2000, took on several roles in cabinet, including the justice and health portfolios, when the Tories came to power in 2016.
She was chosen as the party's leader and became premier in 2021, after then-premier Brian Pallister stepped down as his party's popularity began to sag.
The PCs moved away from an austerity-minded approach under Stefanson, but were unable to earn a third consecutive election victory last Oct. 3, when the NDP won a majority.
The Tories' election campaign was denounced by several high-ranking party members for campaign ads touting the government's opposition to a landfill search for the remains of First Nations women believed to have been victims of a serial killer.
Stefanson later apologized for those ads, saying they "hurt Manitobans."
Stefanson announced after losing the Oct. 3 election that she would step down as party leader, but stayed on in that role until January. At the time, she wouldn't commit to serving her entire term as MLA.
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