Manitoba Opposition Leader Obby Khan faced a severe rebuke Tuesday from Legislature Speaker Tom Lindsey regarding remarks made toward a non-binary cabinet minister. Lindsey, in a stern address, characterized the Manitoba Tory comments as both hateful and dehumanizing, igniting a fresh firestorm within provincial politics.
The Speaker’s Scathing Assessment of Manitoba Tory Comments
The controversy, which initially erupted during a boisterous question period on March 17, saw New Democrats lodge an official complaint against Khan. What precisely transpired remained somewhat murky at the time, given the cacophony of heckling that largely obscured official recordings. However, Speaker Lindsey’s subsequent investigation shed considerable light on the incident.
On Tuesday, Lindsey delivered his ruling, punctuating it with the release of a concise, 15-second audio snippet captured by alternative chamber microphones. “On this recording, I can clearly hear the leader of the official Opposition say, ‘You are a terrible person, whatever you are,’” Lindsey declared to the chamber. He did not mince words, expressing profound shock and dismay. “I was shocked and appalled to hear that such a dehumanizing comment had in fact been made in this chamber.” Though Lindsey unequivocally deemed the words offensive, he ultimately concluded they did not constitute a direct threat, thus not violating parliamentary rules as initially contended by the governing New Democrats.
Khan, however, vehemently rejected Lindsey’s interpretation of events, despite the damning audio. He insisted his intentions were far from hateful when he called Deputy Premier Uzoma Asagwara a “terrible person,” appending the contentious phrase “whatever you are.”
“I did not make any statements intended to target or demean the minister or anyone else based on their background, identity or role,” Khan asserted to reporters. He maintained his comment was a challenge to NDP hecklers, daring them to repeat their remarks outside the chamber where they would not benefit from legislative immunity from legal action. The released audio, while brief, distinctly captures Khan’s polarizing utterance amidst rising noise levels and subsequent protests from the New Democrats.
This incident is not an isolated one. The NDP swiftly drew parallels to past controversial stances taken by the Tories, notably their 2023 election campaign promoting “parental rights” over children’s education. That platform, according to the NDP, was a thinly veiled threat to transgender youth. Deputy Premier Asagwara herself pulled no punches. “The leader of the Opposition has shown Manitobans yet again that he is unfit not only to lead his caucus, he is actually unfit to be elected,” Asagwara stated, underscoring the gravity of the Manitoba Tory comments.
Following the Speaker’s ruling, but prior to hearing the audio himself, Khan offered an apology within the chamber. “I apologize … to everyone in the chamber and all Manitobans for those words,” he expressed, adding, “I look forward to seeing the full audio or listening to the full audio of that. But if that’s the interpretation of the Speaker, I apologize for that. I apologize for any harm those comments may have made.”
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