PC Party Repeats Past Mistakes: Why a New Conservative Option Is Emerging

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba had a real opportunity to demonstrate change. Instead, it repeated the same patterns that have caused so many conservatives to lose confidence, and raised even more questions about its ability to survive.

Let’s start with the facts.

In the last PC leadership race between Heather Stefanson and Shelly Glover, 20,000 memberships were sold. Yet that race was plagued with serious problems. Reports emerged of missing ballots, ballots not being counted, and members never receiving a chance to vote. Hundreds of ballots remained uncounted when Stefanson was declared the winner by just 363 votes. Glover challenged the result in court, pointing to irregularities that undermined the credibility of the process.

Instead of learning from that experience, the party has repeated it.

This time, the numbers are even worse. Only 10,990 memberships were sold. Out of those, 6,750 ballots were returned and tabulated. Wally Daudrich received 3,387 votes. Obby Khan received 3,334. Daudrich received 53 more votes—a clear, undeniable one-person, one-vote win.

Yet Khan was declared the winner based on a points system designed by the party itself. Under that system, Khan secured 50.4% of the weighted points.

Looking closer, the mechanics of the points system reveal even more troubling realities.Obby Khan “won” the vote in 16 out of 29 ridings — mostly in ridings where fewer than 100 ballots were cast. In these ridings, every ballot counted as a full point. Meanwhile, in ridings with more than 100 ballots, each ballot was worth less than one point.

For example, Daudrich won in Steinbach, even against a sitting MLA who had endorsed Khan. But Daudrich’s 100 votes in Steinbach were reduced to just 73.5 points under the system. By contrast, Khan secured 89 votes in The Maples — a smaller membership riding — and those counted for 89 full points.

In short, Khan’s path to victory ran through ridings with minimal membership, where each individual ballot carried more weight than ballots in larger ridings. It’s a system that raises serious questions about fairness and transparency.

Even Premier Wab Kinew, speaking days before the result, pointed out how predictable the outcome would be, suggesting Wally would likely sell more memberships, but somehow Khan would still win.

The will of the members did not decide this leadership race. It was decided by a system that insiders controlled.

From a simple, common-sense perspective, it’s hard to see how this builds trust.

The party is clearly divided, almost evenly split between two candidates. It is shrinking — membership sales dropped by nearly half compared to the last race. It is financially strained, with the party carrying significant debt and little evidence that fundraising is recovering.

And the problems extend well beyond the leadership vote.

Last week, we learned that Marni Larkin, the manager of the PC’s failed 2023 campaign and owner of Boom Done Next, received over $2 million in consulting fees tied to daycare projects while the PC party was in government. At the same time, the son of a major PC fundraiser was awarded a lucrative multi-million-dollar construction contract for those daycares. These allegations are now under investigation, raising serious ethical questions about how decisions were made under the PC administration.

Separately, another controversy surfaced involving an election campaign expense labelled as a “car rental,” which was ultimately paid to a known sex coach. The party’s failure to properly address or explain this incident underscores serious gaps in financial oversight and raises further questions about internal ethics and accountability.

In addition, the Integrity Commissioner’s report into the Sio Silica project remains pending after allegations that some within the PC Party of Manitoba tried to fast-track the project after they lost the election under questionable terms. Sources tell the Winnipeg Sun that the report is complete. However, there is no word on when it will be made public.

Finally, the party’s newly chosen leader faces a $400,000 lawsuit from a former business partner over financial disputes in their shared business ventures.

One issue on its own might be explained. But taken together — declining membership, a leadership result that defies the popular vote, multiple ethical investigations, serious financial questions — they paint a very clear picture.

This is not a healthy political organization.

It is not simply a matter of needing a new leader. The problems are deeper: trust, credibility, governance, and connection to the people it claims to represent.

Former PC leadership candidate Shelly Glover recently confirmed what many Manitobans are already saying — there is growing talk of a new conservative party in Manitoba. Not a vanity project. A true, grassroots alternative focused on restoring trust, accountability, and conservative values.

Looking at the facts, it’s hard to argue against that need.

When less than 11,000 Manitobans are willing to buy a membership, when the candidate with fewer votes is declared the winner, when scandals keep piling up without resolution — it is clear the PC brand is no longer capable of leading a conservative movement in this province.

Conservatives face a decision. Not based on loyalty to a label, but on the evidence before us.

Common sense suggests it’s time to start fresh — to build a new foundation based on trust, transparency, and true grassroots democracy.

The PC Party had every chance to course-correct. Instead, it chose the same old tactics.

Now, it’s up to real conservatives to choose a different path.