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OTTAWA — A member of the Manitoba legislature and former federal cabinet minister is taking a page from Maxime Bernier’s playbook and becoming the leader of a new party.

Steven Fletcher has taken over the leadership of the Manitoba Party after finding himself on the outs with the federal and provincial Tories.

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Fletcher said there will be more than one person in his caucus and there are many others already involved — but won’t reveal their identities, only saying it is “a group of people that is impressive.”

He said the main focus of his party will be fighting the provincial government’s plan to introduce a $25-per-tonne flat carbon tax later this year.

Fletcher was a Conservative MP for 11 years before losing his Winnipeg seat to the Liberals in 2015. He spent five of those years as a minister of state in Stephen Harper’s cabinet.

In 2016, he won a seat as a Progressive Conservative in Manitoba’s provincial election, but was removed from caucus one year later after publicly breaking the party line on a number of issues. He now sits as an Independent.