Opposition Leader Obby Khan takes premier, NDP to court over alleged election rule violation

Manitoba Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan is taking Premier Wab Kinew and the NDP to court.

The leader of Manitoba’s opposition Progressive Conservatives is taking Premier Wab Kinew and the NDP to court, alleging they violated a law last month that bans government advertising during election campaigns.

Speaking outside the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba on Friday, Obby Khan said he filed legal action against Kinew and the NDP seeking a court declaration that they violated an election rule.

The legal action comes after Kinew posted a video on social media on Aug. 21, promising to fix a section of Highway 2 in the Spruce Woods constituency amid an ongoing byelection campaign.

In the video, the premier is heard saying, “And now we’re announcing also that stretch from Souris to Deleau is gonna get fixed thanks to our candidate Ray Berthelette.”

“So on August 26th when you choose the road ahead here in Spruce Woods, please lend Ray your vote,” Kinew said in the video.

Khan is accusing Kinew and the governing party of violating a section in the Election Financing Act that forbids the government from promoting its programs or activities during an election campaign.

“The governing party is prohibited from making new funding promises during the election period because it tilts the playing field in the government’s favour,” Khan said on Friday outside the courthouse.

According to Khan, Kinew’s video comments were in response to the same commitment made by the NDP candidate two days earlier during a candidates’ debate.

“We’ve already filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Elections, but felt this moral and ethnic breach was so gross, so egregious, we needed to file the action here in King’s Court Bench as well,” Khan said.

“Wab Kinew and the NDP think … that the rules do not apply to them. I think they’re wrong.”

Khan told reporters he is still waiting to hear back from the Elections Commissioner on a verdict regarding the complaint, which he filed one day after the video was posted.

According to a copy of the court document, the notice of application also seeks costs for the filing.

Khan said he would like to see Kinew apologize as well.

The filing notes an affidavit from Khan and an applicant’s brief will be used as evidence in court. Khan told reporters the additional filings will come shortly and that he is working on them with his legal counsel.

The PCs managed to hold on to the Spruce Woods constituency during the Aug. 26 byelection, with then-PC candidate Colleen Robbins securing 2,805 votes. NDP candidate Ray Berthelette followed with 2,735 votes.

The constituency in southwest Manitoba was left vacant after the resignation of Grant Jackson, who successfully sought a seat for the Conservative Party of Canada during the last federal election.

Khan is being represented by lawyers Stephan Thliveris and Scott Cannon with Holloway Thliveris LLP, according to a copy of the filing.

Only Khan, and not the PC Party of Manitoba, is listed as an applicant on the court filing.

CTV News has reached out to Kinew for comments and is awaiting a response.

None of the claims have been tested in court.