Narth said PC interim leadership role was unexpected, ‘I don’t see anything hurting us now’

La Vérendrye MLA Konrad Narth was elected as interim leader for the Manitoba PC party on Oct. 1, much to his surprise.

“It’s been a little overwhelming… it’s been a whirlwind,” he said. “Coming into the first week back in session, I didn’t expect being the Leader of the Official Opposition, that’s for sure.”

Narth was chosen to lead the party on Sept. 29 after leader Obby Khan resigned on Sept. 28 and announced he will run as an independent, despite surviving a non-confidence vote within his caucus.

Khan didn’t leave his party quietly telling reporters that even though he survived the non-confidence vote by a two-thirds majority, there were six caucus members that were plotting to oust him, one of whom was Narth. Narth denies this, stating that he and Khan had become friends over the years with the former party leader giving him leadership roles in caucus.

Narth said he is disappointed with some of the things that Khan has been saying to the media since his departure, but that he still respects him, although this is deteriorating.

Although polls showed the party was losing ground with voters, Narth said Khan’s departure wasn’t a total shock, but it was a bit of a surprise for him as he had spoken with the leader at 3:30 p.m. and Khan never gave any indication he would be resigning, which he did later that day at around 5 p.m.

“I don’t know if he got advice from others that were saying, ‘There’s not a clear path forward here’ or whatever it is. I’ve never heard (the reason) yet. He hasn’t said that to the media. He hasn’t said that to me or anybody else,” said Narth.

Narth doesn’t feel that Khan leaving the party and becoming an independent will fracture the PCs, neither does Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, who was also interim leader and premier at one point. He said that while Khan’s leaving won’t fracture the party it certainly doesn’t look good.

“People won’t pay much attention to how this came about,” said Goertzen. “The average person, because they’re not watching political drama moment by moment, will just hear of the problems and the accusations. They’ll probably shrug their shoulders and go, ‘I don’t know what all that’s about, but it doesn’t look good. Are these people ready to govern?’ That’s my fear is that the average person won’t really look into the details.”

Goertzen had just returned from a three-week anniversary trip to Italy when he found out about the non-confidence vote and witnessed Khan’s departure. Although this has happened before in politics, Goertzen believes caucus shouldn’t decide who the party leader should be as that is something that is up to the members of the party. He also wouldn’t have advised Khan to go independent, a move that surprised Goertzen.

“In the last 50 years, there’s only been one one-term government in our province. It’s extraordinarily difficult to knock off a one-term government. That’s the history of our province. So, I think maybe in time, people would have looked at it and gone, ‘OK, the poll numbers weren’t what we would have wanted, but it’s not all the fault of Obby Khan either.’ But now sitting as an independent puts a bit of a different shade on it, unfortunately. But he decided that for whatever reason he decided it.”

Khan is the second Conservative MLA to go independent within the party, the other being Dawson Trail MLA Bob Lagasse, who left the party in March. Goertzen said the two can’t be compared in that Lagasse left because he disagreed with Khan’s lack of action on the Sio Silica controversy regarding MLA Jeff Wharton and supporting mental health initiatives, while Khan left because of concerns regarding his leadership.

Narth said he wasn’t surprised by Khan going independent as it would have been uncomfortable for him to be in the PC caucus after lambasting certain members in the media.

Narth doesn’t see Khan’s departure as hurting the PC party come next year’s election.

“I don’t see anything hurting us now. I think from what I’m seeing, there’s a newfound energy amongst us, amongst our supporters, and the Manitobans that we’ve been elected by. So, I think, if anything, now we have some new ability to showcase who we are and what we have to offer Manitobans,” he said.

Narth said he’s a collaborative leader who believes the best way forward is a united caucus and constituent base.

“The focus is going to be on our base support, those who have elected us to fill the seats that we do and bringing together our caucus as a true team approach, showcasing who each and every one of us is and showing Manitoba the plan that we have for moving forward,” he said.

Goertzen said Narth will do well in his role as interim leader as he’s well equipped as someone who can bring clam, unity, and stabilize the party for the next leader.

“I think that Konrad has all the skills to do that, and I wasn’t surprised when he was elected,” said Goertzen, who refused to say who he thought should lead the party in the next election.

Goertzen estimates the party will hold a leadership convention in January or February.

Although Narth is prepared to lead the party into the next provincial election, he has no plans on becoming a permanent leader or premier. He said the time is not right to make such a commitment as he has a young family and it wouldn’t be fair to them for him to take on such a political role.

“The future of the party is getting back to the basics,” said Narth. “We need to be the common-sense, conservative government, and that means first and foremost, as I said before, getting in contact with the voters who select us to be here, truly representing who they are and their concerns, and also using their guidance to help us show the rest of Manitoba the opportunity that we truly have.”

The next election is set to take place next year after Premier Wab Kinew calls for it.