Ex-Grit leader Bokhari bids cheerful farewell to politics

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This article was published 24/09/2016 (3301 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rana Bokhari looks a lot happier to be a lawyer than she ever did being a politician.

The former Manitoba Liberal party leader will officially say her political farewells at a party function in mid-October but the real public goodbye came Saturday, in a low-key function with friends and family where she announced she’s teamed up with two other lawyers to open her own practice.

Bokhari hosted an open house Saturday at the firm of Bokhari, Smith and Walker at their York Avenue offices down the block from the Law Courts.

Next month, she’ll also celebrate her 39th birthday and the future looks bright, she said.

The lawyer happily greeted friends and family with a palpable sense of confidence and even relief. There was cake, hugs and laughter.

Those were traits the fledging politician found hard to muster in the fierce battles that erupted in the spring election. The campaign saw the New Democrats swept out of office after 17 years in power and gave the Conservatives a majority. As Premier Brian Pallister basks in a Angus Reid poll this week which shows he’s the second most popular premier in Canada after Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall, Bokhari looked back on her foray into politics in a one-one-interview Saturday before the rest of the media filed into her office.

“I acknowledge all the time, openly, it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever emotionally and mentally and physically gone through and I’ve gone through the wringer more than once,” she said.

“But I will never regret it. I do feel I contributed, I tried. I didn’t just stand on the sidelines and throw stones. I didn’t just say I wanted change,” Bokhari said.

The Liberals had a rocky campaign. The party went from high hopes to boost their presence provincially, and they did add two MLAs to the single seat they had, but they ended up with a disappointing third place finish. Bokhari lost her bid for a seat against NDP star challenger, Wab Kinew, a journalist,author and well known indigenous activist.

Throughout it all, the Manitoba provincial Liberals were plagued by a weak central campaign and lack of resources. Problems arose with several candidates who’d been inadequately vetted, and five ridings had no candidate after bungling nomination paperwork and regulations. Bokhari clashed repeatedly with media and came off looking defensive instead of confident.

Bokhari officially resigned in August after keeping a low profile for the summer, and an interim leader will not be named until mid-October at the earliest.

In the meantime the party is saddled a campaign debt expected to come in at $140,000 once all the numbers are in and — with just three of the 57 legislature seats It has few staff and little funding to mount a campaign for a leadership convention, Canadian Press reported earlier this month.

Bokhari took the summer to turn a corner. She joined two other lawyers, Katherine Smith and David Walker, both in criminal defence, and the three rebranded law office as Bokhari, Walker and Smith.

It’s a boutique law firm, but because the three lawyers have independent practices, it’s technically not a “firm,” in any legal sense.

“We are not partners in the same firm, rather we operate three separate law offices that share space and resources like other law groups such as Broadway Law Group, for example,” Smith said in an email Sunday.

The criminal lawyers will continue defending clients in criminal court as always while Bokhari intends to focus is on commercial and immigration law with a specialty in doctors’ and dentists’ corporate legal requirements. That’s a niche field that exists in Toronto and New York City but not so much in Winnipeg, Bokhari said.

Looking back, Bokhari said she’s at peace with Manitoba’s political scene and she’d consider another run in politics sometime in the future.

“I’m excited to embark on a new chapter in my life. I know the political doors are still open if I chose to go back and jump into any kind of politics. I feel good,” Bokhari said.

Her foray in politics gave her the confidence and the network roll out a new career with the specialty in commercial law for doctors and dentists, separate from malpractice law.

“Most of them know how to structure their business relations, right? And like lawyers, they have a regulatory structure through their (licensing bodies) such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Within that parameter, my job is to follow all the rules and get matters settled,” Bokhari said.

She thinks the legal niche will take off because of the convenience factor; a one-stop-shop for legal and business services.

“I feel happy, I feel good. Business is good, without even starting yet. That’s why I’m doing this open house on a Saturday. Monday, I already have meetings,” Bokhari said.