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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Progressive Conservative MLA Konrad Narth (La V\u00e9rendrye) was selected by the PC caucus to be the interim leader of the party Tuesday morning. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The former Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman said he prevailed in a confidence vote Friday; 13 caucus members voted for him to remain leader, six voted against and one person was absent.<\/p>\n
Despite the outcome, he said he learned of the plan to end his leadership.<\/p>\n
Khan lashed out against some of his former colleagues during an interview with CJOB Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
He said Kathleen Cook (Roblin), Richard Perchotte (Selkirk), Lauren Stone (Midland) and Jodie Byram (Agassiz) were among the Tory MLAs who were planning to meet in secret Monday night in an effort to subvert Friday\u2019s confidence vote. The named MLAs weren\u2019t taking reporters\u2019 questions Tuesday. Cook said in a text that she had no comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am deeply, emotionally hurt by this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan said constituents deserve to know which of their elected representatives \u201clacked moral integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next provincial election must be held on or before Oct. 5, 2027. There have been rumblings that Premier Wab Kinew could decide to send Manitobans to the polls as soon as the spring.<\/p>\n
Khan said there was \u201cextensive discussion\u201d in caucus about a recent Free Press-Abacus Data poll showing Kinew\u2019s personal approval rating increased five percentage points to 68 per cent year-over-year, while Khan\u2019s rating fell three points, to 31 per cent. Nearly two-thirds (60 per cent) of those surveyed said they would vote for the New Democrats and 29 per cent said they would back the Progressive Conservatives, at that time led by Khan.<\/p>\n
He said he spoke to PC shadow cabinet members Cook (health) and Stone (finance) by phone on Friday and asked them if they thought he should quit.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Obby Khan, former leader of the Manitoba PC party, works in his office Tuesday the day after resigning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThey said, \u2018No, it\u2019s not all your fault,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n They pointed to conservative movements across Canada struggling in the polls, the Trump tariffs and the Manitoba party being somewhat dysfunctional for the last five to eight years.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018It\u2019s not all you, Obby. We\u2019ll work together and we\u2019ll get through this,\u2019\u201d Khan said he was told.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen MLAs tell you that over the phone then stab you in the back, I believe there\u2019s a question of integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey continued to work behind the scenes \u2013 cloak and dagger.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the confidence vote was held Friday, Khan said he told the caucus that he\u2019d accept the outcome. The six who voted against, however, refused to do the same, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey continued to work behind the scenes \u2014 cloak and dagger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Before resigning Monday, Khan said he learned that Narth was to host a secret meeting that night to discuss the leadership. He said he questioned Narth about it during a phone call while they discussed issues heading into the fall sitting of the legislature.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I brought it up with him, he said, \u2018It\u2019s not a meeting \u2014 it\u2019s just a conversation on what direction we want to go.\u2019 I said, \u2018Do you not think I should know about it, and a few other senior MLAs who you\u2019ve intentionally left off of inviting to it?,\u2019\u201d Khan said.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can I possibly go back to a team like that?\u201d<\/p>\n Narth, who represents La V\u00e9rendrye in the province\u2019s southeast, was chosen as the interim leader in a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not fractured,\u201d he said, pushing back after Khan\u2019s remarks on the radio.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Interim PC Leader Konrad Narth speaks in the Assembly Chamber Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI have complete confidence that we have an extremely morally grounded caucus that is committed to doing the right things for Manitoba above and beyond any of their personal interests.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very concerning to me that (Khan) would make those comments, because I stand 100 per cent behind all of our caucus\u2026 we have people that are truly passionate on making Manitoba a better place and effectively representing the great people that have selected them to serve in those roles. We need to start taking that a lot more serious.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephen Carter resigned as the Progressive Conservatives\u2019 campaign director Friday after the confidence vote. He said said the former leader\u2019s decision to use Tuesday\u2019s radio interview to publicly criticize those who didn\u2019t support him illustrates the current problem.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s evident from the behaviours over the past couple of days why it was was hard to stay,\u201d Carter said from Calgary. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t the caucus\u2019s problem. This was a leadership problem. If, in some fashion, I helped make that real by leaving, then I\u2019m glad that I did.\u201d<\/p>\n In his Monday resignation speech, Khan thanked several Tory MLAs for supporting him, including Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach), Ron Schuler (Springfield-Ritchot), Rick Wowchuk (Swan River), Greg Nesbitt (Riding Mountain), Derek Johnson (Interlake-Gimli), Trevor King (Lakeside) and Colleen Robbins (Spruce Woods).<\/p>\n Narth said he has no plans to run for the leadership on a permanent basis.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here to continue moving us forward to find a new leader that will be the next premier of Manitoba,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not fractured.\u201d<\/p>\n The party said in a statement that its executive will meet in the coming days to consider the process and requirements for a leadership election.<\/p>\n The last leadership race on April 26, 2025 ended with far-right populist Wally Daudrich winning the popular vote but losing to Khan because of a weighted ballot system.<\/p>\n Khan didn\u2019t take his seat on the backbench Tuesday next to fellow independent MLAs Mark Wasyliw (Fort Garry), who left the NDP, and Bob Lagasse (Dawson Trail), a disaffected former Tory MLA.<\/p>\n Khan said Wasyliw and Liberal Leader Willard Reaves \u2014 who challenged Khan in the Fort Whyte byelection in 2022 \u2014 both reached out to him.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re shocked by this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Reaves, who also played for the Blue Bombers, quipped about joining forces with Khan.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cWe know what teamwork does, OK? You get results from it,\u201d said Reaves, who doesn\u2019t hold a seat in the legislature.<\/p>\n He said Manitobans have alternately been failed by PC and NDP governments, and more Liberals in the chamber \u2014 Cindy Lamoureux is the lone member of the party with a seat \u2014 would provide a third option for Manitoba voters.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can\u2019t get that third option in there, we\u2019re going to continue to spin our tires,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Khan said he\u2019s not sure if he will run again in the next provincial election. Meanwhile, he will have more time to serve his constituents in Fort Whyte without the leadership duties. He said he\u2019ll miss question period \u2014 holding the premier to account, \u201cthe excitement in the chamber \u2014 the barbs and heckles back and forth.\u201d<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t regret his decision to step down as leader and quit the PC caucus.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m much happier and at peace than I was yesterday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2014 With files from Nicole Buffie, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Carol Sanders Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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