Beverage business connected to Tory leader evicted from Corydon Avenue strip mall

A business linked to the leader of the Progressive Conservatives has been evicted from its Corydon Avenue building after the property’s management company said it broke the terms of its lease.

Green Carrot Juice Co. had an eviction notice posted on its 2090 Corydon Ave. property, dated Aug. 15, that said its lease was terminated “effective immediately” for “failure to actively and continuously carry on business on the premises and for allowing the premises to remain vacant for a period of more than seven days.”

The eviction notice is addressed to OKTJGCT Corporation. Fort Whyte MLA Obby Khan was described as the director of the corporation in a member’s disclosure statement dated Aug. 10.

The disclosure statement, which lists corporations the MLA is affiliated with, lists Green Carrot Juice Co. as closed.

The Free Press requested an interview with Khan multiple times Thursday and Friday. Questions posed to Khan at an unrelated press conference Friday were not answered.

He sent a short emailed statement Friday afternoon calling the notice a “formality.”

“The tenant has ceased business operations at this location,” he said. “The notice of termination was posted by the landlord as a formality while the landlord seeks a new tenant.”

In a followup email, PC communications director Jon Lovlin confirmed Khan was the tenant in question.

The cold-pressed juice and smoothie business was located in a strip mall in Tuxedo. Several neighbouring businesses and residents told the Free Press it had not been open for several weeks, if not longer.

“According to our leases, you can’t leave your business unattended, and it’s been closed for a month… but there (are) rumours someone else is taking over the location,” said one staff member at a business in the mall.

On Thursday, there was a sign on the building saying that the store was “temporarily closed until future notice,” citing “unforeseen circumstances.”

The owner of the property declined to comment Friday.

Green Carrot Juice Co. originally opened in Osborne Village in 2014, where it operated for nearly a decade before closing last year. In that time, it opened its Corydon Avenue location, along with locations at Winnipeg’s airport and at Goodlife Fitness in the Refinery District. The Osborne and airport locations have since closed.

In 2022, Jones and Company Wine Merchants filed a lawsuit against Khan, alleging he failed to repay $560,000 in financial support for Green Carrot Juice Co.

Jones and Company principal Tina Jones was described as one of three partners in Green Carrot, along with Khan and restaurateur Johnny Kien in a 2014 Free Press business profile.

Khan asked the courts to drop the lawsuit later that year, and the case has not moved forward since.

University of Manitoba political studies professor Christopher Adams said the eviction doesn’t necessarily indicate wrongdoing, but might have come at an unfortunate time, as a byelection in the western Manitoba Spruce Woods constituency is set for Tuesday.

“It’s not as if he’s done something unlawful or unethical, so far as we know… (but) I’m sure it doesn’t help during the Spruce Woods byelection period,” he said.

Balancing work and the responsibilities of caucus can be tricky, he said, pointing to the example of independent MLA Mark Wasyliw who, after learning he had been passed over for a cabinet appointment while a member of the NDP in 2023, faced criticism when he said he would be ramping up his work as a criminal defence lawyer.

“To be the efficient leader of the official Opposition while trying to run a business or businesses, I would say that it’s not a row that I would find easy to hoe,” Adams said.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca