Former N.L. PC Party president Eugene Manning enters leadership race

Eugene Manning, former president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Progressive Conservative Party, announced Tuesday that he'll be running in the party's leadership race.

Manning is the third candidate to enter the race, following current MHAs Tony Wakeham and Lloyd Parrott.

"Do any of you feel that, anywhere in the Confederation Building, there is a real, actionable plan for our future?" Manning said at a news conference Tuesday evening.

"If you don't have a plan, you don't have real leadership."

Manning said the PC Party has done a good job pointing out the "inconsistencies and failings" of Andrew Furey and the Liberal Party. But, he said, the province needs a party that does more than offer criticism.

"I'm here tonight because our party has an opportunity to deliver real change," he said. "But the first step in delivering change is we have to give people a reason to support us."

Building a new system

Manning is the only candidate running in the party's leadership race thus far who has not run for public office. He isthe founder of J&E Enterprises Limited, a Newfoundland-based civil construction firm.

However, he is no stranger to the PC Party. He served as the party's president until resigning in April 2021, less than a week after former leader Ches Crosbie announced his resignation.

When Crosbie stepped down from the job, Manning cited concerns about a lack of neutrality, writing in a letter to executive party members at the time, "There is an exceptionally low probability that I will remain neutral through the leadership contest as I consider my own future."

Manning publicly mused aboutrunning for the position after Crosbie stepped down, following his second defeat in a general election.

Nominations open May 17, and a leadership convention is set for October.

• MHA Tony Wakeham makes bid for PC Party's leadership
• Lloyd Parrott, first to enter race to guide the PC Party, says 'now is the time to lead'

Manning said Tuesday his focus is to build a better government system, rather than continuing to navigate a broken one. He says building is something he's well equipped to do, after working alongside his father from a young age for his family's business, building things like wharfs and breakwaters.

He also received a degree in civil engineering from Memorial University.

"From Long Cove to Trout River, Harbour Breton to Fleurs de Lys, I've been doing my part to build Newfoundland and Labrador my entire life, and I'm proud of it," he said.

He also called out Andrew Furey's Liberal Party for failing to address issues such as the lack of family doctors in the province andthe rising costs of home heating fuel and gas.

He says damage control and empty promises aren't working for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

"When I tell you I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it," he said. "And I'm going to be the next leader of the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador."

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