Khan leads a Tory house divided

Obby Khan faces “a steep mountain to climb” to unite Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party after being voted its leader on Saturday despite losing the popular vote.

More than half of the 20 constituencies represented by PC members in the Manitoba legislature voted for his challenger, Wally Daudrich, the owner of a lodge in Churchill.

In Steinbach, Daudrich received 73.5 points to Khan’s 26.5 points. Steinbach is represented by former cabinet minister Kelvin Goertzen, who had campaigned for Khan’s leadership.

Daudrich was favoured by members in the PC-held constituencies of Borderland, Dawson Trail, La Verendrye, Lac du Bonnet, Lakeside, Midland, Morden-Winkler, Red River North, Riding Mountain, Selkirk, Springfield-Ritchot, Swan River and Turtle Mountain.

He was also chosen by members in Spruce Woods, a seat Daudrich has said he may seek in a byelection after it was vacated by PC Grant Jackson, who quit in March to run federally in Brandon-Souris.

It means Khan has to lead a caucus that represents more Tory members who support Daudrich than him.

“That is such a steep mountain to climb to unite this party,” said Brandon University political science Prof. Kelly Saunders.

Khan’s support came mostly from urban constituencies that the party needs to win to form government.

In Khan’s own Winnipeg constituency of Fort Whyte, he received 78.1 points while Daudrich received 21.9.

In nearby Roblin, represented by Tory Kathleen Cook, who openly opposed Daudrich’s socially conservative views, Khan took 59.6 points compared to Daudrich’s 40.4 points.

In Portage la Prairie, Brandon East and Brandon West, party members picked Khan over Daudrich.

Khan wouldn’t agree to do an interview Monday. In a statement, he said no matter how members voted, he’s “excited that they participated in the PC leadership campaign.”

“I recognize that there is lots of work to do but I promised to hit the ground running and will continue to actively engage with my caucus colleagues and our grassroots provincewide to build a winning organization,” Khan said.

The PCs new leadership election system allocates one point for every vote a candidate receives in constituencies with up to 100 voting members, up to a maximum of 500 points for an electoral district with 1,300 or more votes. The points from all 57 electoral districts added up to 2,198.8 for Khan and 2,163.2 for Daudrich, who won the popular vote after receiving 3,387 ballots — 53 more than Khan’s 3,334.

While Khan eked out a win, such a narrow margin of victory shows a deepening divide in the PC party, Saunders said.

“It always was a challenge to unite the urban-rural, the progressive conservative and a bit more right-of-centre conservative elements within the party. It seems like those divisions have only gotten deeper,” Saunders said.

“Clearly there’s a significant element of dissatisfaction, of frustration with the leadership of the party, with the direction of the party, and that faction is not going to go away,” she said.

After Khan’s victory was announced Saturday, the right-leaning Keystone Party of Manitoba, which was unable to win a seat in the 2023 election, invited Daudrich supporters to join its ranks.

“Wally Daudrich championed the true grassroots movement, emphasizing servant leadership and fiscal responsibility,” Keystone’s social media post said. “His message resonated with many who feel the party has strayed from its roots,” it said. “If you’re among the many who believe the PC party no longer represents your values, know this: the Keystone party stands with you.”

Its leader, Kevin Friesen, said Monday his phone lit up after Khan was announced PC party winner, but couldn’t say if that translated into new Keystone members.

Friesen said Daudrich is a friend but they haven’t discussed joining forces.

Daudrich didn’t respond to interview requests Monday. After the leadership election results were announced Saturday night, Daudrich left the downtown Winnipeg venue without making a speech or speaking to reporters.

Saunders said the next chapter for the PC party is a question mark.

“Whether they all migrate over to the Keystone party or they create a new entity, I don’t think that story is over yet.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca