The two candidates vying to lead Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party were pushed to clarify their positions on divisive topics such as transgender rights and pandemic restrictions on Wednesday, in their first appearance together before a gathering of party members.
Fort Whyte MLA Obby Khan declared his support for the federal Transgender Day of Visibility, while Churchill, Man., business owner Wally Daudrich disavowed the former PC government’s pandemic response, at a 75-minute meet-and-greet event at downtown Winnipeg’s Delta Hotel, attended by approximately 200 PC members, including current and former MLAs.
The event, moderated by former PC Radisson MLA James Teitsma, offered Khan and Daudrich an opportunity to introduce themselves to party members near the start of a lengthy campaign that will culminate in a selection of a new leader on April 26, 2025.
During jocular conversations with Teitsma, Khan took the opportunity to discuss his time as an offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League and subsequent ownership of seven restaurants, while Daudrich spoke of the growth of his Churchill ecotourism ventures over the course of 30 years.
A handful of questions from the audience brought the personal beliefs of the candidates into focus.
Khan, who was the face of the party’s “parental rights” promise during the 2023 provincial election campaign, was asked on stage how he would have voted had he attended a May vote in the Manitoba Legislature on an NDP bill to establish a two-spirit and transgender day of visibility.
Khan said he did not attend that vote because he had an X-ray appointment.
Speaking to reporters following the event, he said there already is a federal Transgender Day of Visibility, which he supports.
“As a minority myself, I know what it’s like to be ostracized, to be picked on, to be harassed, to be bullied,” said Khan, who is Muslim and South Asian.
“I might be a big guy, but I got it. I got it as a kid growing up. I got it playing football. I got it in the CFL and I got it afterwards and I still get it in politics. So I know what it means as a minority to have a day that recognizes you and the importance you have. So I support that day.”
Khan was also asked where he stands on parental rights, an issue the PCs did not define clearly during last year’s campaign.
“We all know there are some parents who may not be the best parents,” Khan said, later explaining he was referring to a need for more protection for children “that may not come from a safe home, that may be abused at home, that may not have a safe space.”
When Daudrich was on stage, an audience member who referred to the pandemic as “COVID nonsense” and said she was turned off by a push “to take poison in her body” asked the candidate what he would change to prevent government overreach.
Daudrich said “some things” were mishandled by the PC government and need to be repaired.
Speaking to reporters following the event, Daudrich declined to specify what was mishandled,
“Some of the rhetoric just could have been not so heated,” he said. “I just would say that our leader at that time probably was listening too much to the wrong people.”
The campaign event also saw Khan announce that Steinbach MLA and former premier Kelvin Goertzen, one of the most influential members of the PC caucus, is serving as his campaign co-chair.
Khan also suggested he could be more effective as a leader than Daudrich because he has a seat in the legislature.
“I’m ready on day one to take on the NDP, to take on Wab Kinew, being there having a seat, ready to rock and roll,” Khan said on stage.
Daudrich took the opportunity to set a direction for the PCs to espouse small government, frugal spending and a commitment to engage with constituents.
Manitoba’s government can be downsized without job losses, he said.
“We need to bring it down to where the average is, at least, and we can do that through attrition. We don’t have to do cuts,” he said.
Daudrich also affirmed his opposition to abortion, but stated he would let the party grassroots determine positions on any issue.
He also said he probably should not have used the term “garbage” to describe the state of the party in an interview with the Western Standard newspaper.
“We need to make some things right with Manitobans, with our base,” he said. “First, they fired us. They told us that we weren’t doing a good job, and so I want to come in as a leader and as a businessperson. I want to run this whole organization like a business.”