Concerns raised over comments referencing Muslims reposted by Tory leadership hopeful

WINNIPEG — One of the two candidates for the leadership of the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives is under fire over a social media post that referred to his opponent’s Muslim faith.

Wally Daudrich’s campaign Facebook page recently reposted a message from a user named Vicki Poutine. Poutine’s post quoted a newsletter from the Daudrich campaign that condemned antisemitism and attacks on Jews. Poutine added to the end of the post: “We must stop Muslim Obby Khan from becoming the Conservative leader.”

Daudrich’s campaign manager says the message was reposted by a staff member who did not notice the wording at the end, and the post was taken down as soon as it was brought to the team’s attention.

“This is nonsense. The reference to Mr. Khan’s Muslim faith was made at the end of a long post written by an individual not associated with our campaign,” Joseph Ben-Ami said in a written statement.

“It was reposted by one of our staff who did not notice it. As soon as it was brought to our attention it was immediately removed. This was an honest mistake to which our campaign responded quickly and appropriately.’

The National Council of Canadian Muslims called on Daudrich to publicly apologize.

“Targeting (Khan) solely because of his Muslim faith, as implied in the (post), is a clear example of Islamophobia,” the group wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Officials at the provincial Progressive Conservative party asked Daudrich to clear the air.

“It is a principle of the PC Party that membership and participation in the party is open to all Manitobans regardless of religion and the leadership election committee strongly disavows any suggestion to the contrary,” committee chair Brad Zander said in a written statement Wednesday.

“The (committee) has no reason to believe the post wasn’t inadvertent. However, given the nature of Mr. Daudrich’s repost content, the (committee) has asked that Mr. Daudrich confirm his commitment to the principle that membership and participation in the party is open to Manitobans regardless of their religion.”

Khan said the Daudrich campaign’s explanation does not go far enough.

“I think that an apology must be made and that that type of language must be disavowed and condemned,” Khan said in an interview.

“If the post is done in accident, then an apology is still needed and that language still needs to be condemned.”

The Tories, who are in Opposition after losing the 2023 election, are to choose a new leader April 26.

Khan is a former pro football player, business owner and cabinet minister who represents the Fort Whyte area of Winnipeg in the legislature.

Daudrich is a longtime Tory board member and hotel owner from the northern town of Churchill.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press