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After years of protecting Winnipeg Blue Bomber quarterbacks and operating restaurants in the city, Obby Khan says he’s ready to enter life as a politician.
After years of protecting Winnipeg Blue Bomber quarterbacks and operating restaurants in the city, Obby Khan says he’s ready to enter life as a politician.
The former Bomber and owner of local restaurant chain Shawarma Khan has thrown his hat into the political sphere with the Progressive Conservatives in the Fort Whyte byelection scheduled for March 22.
After working in the restaurant industry, doing charity work and of course his football career, Khan said he wanted to continue to give back to the community.
“When I reflect now at a time in my life where my businesses are running themselves, and I’m saying how can I continue to give back and give back in a bigger way? It’s government, its public service,” he said in a phone interview.
“Now I can just do it on a bigger scale and make a big bigger impact and help more people.”
Up against a former Bomber in Liberal candidate Willard Reaves, Khan said it doesn’t matter who he’s up against he’s excited to run against anyone.
“People want to build out the Bomber versus Bomber, great,” Khan said. “It’s fun, but competition is competition and competition brings the best out of me. It’s always done that and this next phase of my life is just bringing the best out of me.”
Khan said one of the big issues for Fort Whyte voters is getting out of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as reducing the surgical and diagnostic backlog as a result of the health crisis.
“They want some positivity, they want some collaboration,” he said. “They want [a] bright vision for the future, right? People are really wanting that in leadership. I think I bring that in spades.”
As a business owner himself, Khan knows the economic impact the global pandemic has had on businesses and he wants to focus on getting people back to work. Not only do people need to come back to work, Khan says, but businesses need to be able to open again.
Khan pointed to the provincial nominee program, which helps immigrants come to Manitoba as a key way of beefing up the labour force.
“We’re going to get these people to stay in Manitoba and make this a thriving economy and that’s what we’re that’s what I’m super optimistic about,” he said.
Khan will attempt to keep the Fort Whyte riding for the PCs, which was held previously by Brian Pallister against Reaves as well as NDP candidate Trudy Schroeder and independent candidate Patrick Allard.
The byelection is slated for March 22 with advanced voting taking place from March 10-17.
rstelter@postmedia.com
Twitter: @steltsy94
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec wants to curb excessive tipping.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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