Former NDP MLA for Flin Flon, Clarence Pettersen, dies at 65

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This article was published 02/04/2018 (2225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Clarence Pettersen, who became a single-term NDP MLA for Flin Flon after supporting the “Gang of Five” cabinet ministers in their battle with then-premier Greg Selinger and being forced to run for re-election as an independent, has died.

Pettersen died March 28. He was 65.

Pettersen was a school teacher for 33 years before throwing his hat in the Manitoba political ring in 2011, winning Flin Flon with 1,890 votes, more than double the Tory challenger.

But, after supporting the failed movement against Selinger, he lost the party’s nomination to union activist Tom Lindsey, leading Pettersen to run as an independent. He finished fourth, with 359 votes, in the 2016 provincial election.

The cause of death was not yet public Tuesday.

During the 2016 election, he told the Flin Flon Reminder he was running again after overcoming cancer and pneumonia in the past year. “I’m back. My mojo’s back,” he told the newspaper.

Pettersen also told the Free Press during the campaign he was proud to have helped bring $180 million in government money to the northwest Manitoba community, which included a new emergency room for Flin Flon’s hospital.

Pettersen is survived by his wife, Judy, three daughters and three grandchildren. A funeral will take place April 21, at 2 p.m. at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Flin Flon.