Obby Khan announces bid in Manitoba Progressive Conservatives leadership race

Former provincial cabinet minister and pro football player Obby Khan is launching a bid for the leadership of Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party.

Khan says people have been asking him to run for the party helm, and he wants to rebuild the party’s connection with Manitobans.

Khan is the first candidate in the race to replace Heather Stefanson, who announced her decision to step down after the party lost last year’s election to the NDP.

The leadership is to be decided next April 26, and candidates have until Oct. 15 to enter the race.

Khan played in the Canadian Football League for nine seasons and, after being elected to the Manitoba legislature in 2022, was named minister of sport, culture and heritage.

The Tories’ election campaign last year stirred up controversy over advertisements about a landfill search for murdered women and a promise to protect “parental rights.”

Khan did not want to discuss those issues in an interview this week.

“I will be addressing those as we go forward,” Khan said. “I think right now, the focus is on working and looking forward on how we can bring ideas (and) energy to a new generation of Manitobans.”

The Tories hold 21 seats in the legislature. The governing New Democrats hold 35, and the Liberals have one.

Although the Tories finished a close second in the popular vote in the election, they fared poorly in Winnipeg, where most legislature seats are. The party faced another electoral setback in June, when it lost the Tuxedo seat in Winnipeg that had been vacated by Stefanson and had been a Tory stronghold.