Former Manitoba Progressive Conservative leader Obby Khan says he’s dismayed the party is defending its integrity, after he was taken off-guard by caucus members trying to push him out.
Among those members were some who told him days earlier he shouldn’t step down, he said Tuesday, one day after resigning as Tory leader.
Khan was responding to new PC interim leader Konrad Narth dismissing on Tuesday any suggestion the party is fractured.
“I don’t think they’re pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes. You can’t preach unity when you stab your leader in the back … when you lie to the leader’s face and do something else when it comes to a vote,” Khan said in an interview.
He announced during a Monday evening speech at the Manitoba Legislature that he would step down as leader, after just over a year in the job, and leave the Opposition PC caucus. He will sit in the legislature as an Independent, representing the Fort Whyte riding he first won in a 2022 byelection.
He cited divisions within his caucus that left him “no choice” in announcing his resignation.
Khan said Tuesday his leadership was put to a confidence vote at a caucus meeting last Friday, after Agassiz MLA Jodie Byram put forward a motion that was seconded by Selkirk MLA Richard Perchotte.
Former Manitoba Progressive Conservative leader Obby Khan is naming the caucus members who tried to push him out, one day after he said caucus divisions left him with no choice but to step down from the role.
Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen — a former interim party leader who has said he won’t run in the next election — warned caucus that removing him as leader in this manner would hurt rather than help the party, Khan said.
A handful of caucus members — Kathleen Cook (Roblin), Lauren Stone (Midland) and Carrie Hiebert (Morden-Winkler) — spoke out against him, he said.
Khan said there were 13 votes for him to remain party leader and six opposed, with one MLA absent.
The ballot was secret, but he believes Byram, Perchotte, Cook, Stone and Hiebert voted against him. He has theories about who the sixth vote was but declined to speculate, he said.
‘How can I … trust this team?’
Khan said he had asked Cook and Stone days earlier whether a recent Abacus Data poll, which suggested PC fortunes were sinking, was a sign he should resign. Both MLAs, in separate conversations, encouraged him to stay on as leader, he said.
“If you’re going to tell someone something and then … manoeuvre behind their back, how can I as a leader trust this team going forward?” Khan asked.
Cook and Stone declined to comment.
Khan said the concerns raised about his leadership at last Friday’s meeting weren’t about policy, but largely “how the caucus is operating.”
Some critics also mentioned how the fortunes of the B.C. Conservatives quickly improved after their leader resigned, Khan said. That party is now leading in the polls, according to Angus Reid.
I’ll simply say, sadly, I’ve lost a lot of friendships over this.– Obby Khan
He listened to those concerns, said he was prepared to make changes, and told his critics afterwards he wanted them to remain in their roles, saying punishing them “would then prevent anyone for ever coming forward with a concern again.”
“That’s not the way I wanted to lead,” Khan said in an interview.
He was prepared to move past the confidence vote, he said.
“But as Kelvin Goertzen had warned, once there is a vote and it cemented, there’s a fracture, and a fracture is almost impossible to recover from,” said Khan.
Had 2 speeches ready
On Sunday, Khan learned some members of the caucus planned to meet Monday evening to discuss his leadership. Some MLAs, including Goertzen and Springfield-Ritchot’s Ron Schuler, weren’t invited, Khan.
He was told they would meet at the home of La Vérendrye MLA Konrad Narth, who was appointed interim party leader on Tuesday.
Khan said he called Narth on Monday to ask about that meeting.
Narth told him it was about the party’s future and Khan would be a topic of discussion, and so couldn’t attend, the former leader said.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Narth wouldn’t confirm anything about the supposed meeting. He denied his involvement in any effort to overthrow the party’s leadership.
Brandon West MLA Wayne Balcaen was walking away from the same news conference when he returned to the microphone, unprompted, to challenge Khan’s earlier words questioning the integrity of members of the PC caucus, “particularly the attack on the women of the party.”
They are “beyond reproach, they are top-notch individuals,” Balcaen said.
Khan says he was debating his political future throughout Monday, including in a lunch-hour conversation with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who was visiting Winnipeg.
In fact, he said he stepped up to the podium at the late Monday news conference carrying two speeches, he said — one announcing his resignation, the other saying he would remain as leader.
Then his phone rang.
On the line was PC MLA Greg Nesbitt, who, in a meeting afterwards with Swan River MLA Rick Wowchuk, “implored me to stay,” said Khan.
“But at the end of it, I had to make that decision.”
When he returned to the podium, he apologized to the gathered media for stepping away.
“We had a few MLAs who wanted to be here, and others on the phone,” he said, pausing for several seconds before grabbing a glass of water.
“This will be my last time appearing before you as the leader of the Official Opposition, and the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba.”
He said Tuesday he didn’t want to spend time fighting members of his own party: “A better Manitoba doesn’t mean internal fighting.”
He thanked Goertzen, Schuler, Nesbitt, Wowchuk, Derek Johnson, Colleen Robbins, Jeff Wharton, Trevor King and Wayne Ewasko for their support in an interview. Deputy party leader Jeff Bereza was not among them.
Asked Tuesday whether he had the backing of the Portage la Prairie MLA, Khan’s eyes quickly reddened.
“I’ll simply say, sadly, I’ve lost a lot of friendships over this.”
Khan said while he’s saddened by the divisions within the party, and that some MLAs pushed for his ouster, he’s also relieved to move past the drama.
He said he told his son he was happy to have stood on his principles.
“If that’s the lesson I teach my kid, that’s a win,” he said.
Khan added he’s received “very interesting” texts and phone calls from political parties across Canada, except for the NDP.
Obby Khan announced late Monday afternoon that he is stepping down as leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party, the province’s Official Opposition. He said he will also leave the party caucus to sit as an Independent MLA. Watch his full remarks here.
