Tories work to dig out of $500K debt

WINNIPEG — The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is digging its way out of a financial hole and preparing a war chest for the next election.

“We’re in better shape than we were in December,” PC party president Peter Smith said Monday.

The PCs filed its annual financial statement for the 2025 calendar year with Elections Manitoba last week, which showed a $505,024 deficit as of Dec. 31, 2025. At the end of 2024, the party was $689,000 in the hole.

“I’m pretty comfortable with where our fundraising is at and where our income is and our debt level,” Smith said.

The PCs reported $586,353 in liabilities, including $350,579 in bank indebtedness and $235,774 in accounts payable.

The sale of the party’s former Kennedy Street headquarters in the spring for $600,000, golf fundraisers this summer and its Nov. 6 fall dinner have bolstered the party’s bottom line ahead of the next provincial election that must be held by Oct. 5, 2027, Smith said.

“We should be paid off all of our debt from the ’23 election by the end of this year and in a position to start accumulating more money for the election for a war chest,” he said.

“The money has been not as great as we’d love it to be … but the membership has been engaged and has been interested in supporting the party. We’ve been bringing in some good dollars every month.”

The NDP, meanwhile, reported a $1.4-million surplus in 2025. They out-fundraised the PCs last year, taking in $955,967, while the Tories reported $552,160 in contributions and fundraising.

One political expert said the disparity didn’t surprise him, given Premier Wab Kinew has led substantially in popularity polls since forming government.

“Leaving aside all the concerns about the ability of the PC party to be an effective opposition, which has been problematic since Wab Kinew has been elected, in terms of the finances, I usually expect that the governing party has better finances than the opposition,”said University of Manitoba political studies adjunct Prof. Christopher Adams.

Registered political parties are required by Elections Manitoba to disclose their annual financial statements by March 31.

The PCs were granted several deadline extensions after its former CEO resigned for health reasons and the volunteer chief financial officer was occupied with accounting details surrounding the sale of the party’s former headquarters, Smith said.

“That wasn’t something that affected the 2025 statements, but we still had to take the time to do it,” he said.

The party is conducting an audit of The Pas-Kameesak July 21 byelection and won’t require an extension to meet the Nov. 23 filing deadline, Smith said. Candidates who received five per cent of the votes cast are eligible for reimbursement.

Tory candidate Edna Nabess finished second with just over 17 per cent of the vote. Jennifer Flett held onto the seat for the NDP following the death of incumbent Amanda Lathlin. Flett received 74 per cent of the vote.

Smith said the PC party achieved its goal — to finish second and “pressure test” its organization ahead of the next general election.

Liberal Dan Quesnel and Keystone Party candidate Wally Daudrich each received less than five per cent of the vote. Daudrich, a lodge owner from Churchill, entered The Pas-Kameesak byelection race late after quitting the PCs to run for the fledgling Keystone Party. The former PC party executive and leadership candidate was disqualified by the Tories from seeking the nomination in Turtle Mountain, which is considered a safe PC seat and held by incumbent Doyle Piwniuk, who is not seeking re-election.

“He’s still a force to be reckoned with,” Smith said of Daudrich. The outspoken populist candidate was disqualified, the party said, for making disparaging comments about PC MLAs and not withdrawing legal threats to go after party members, including Obby Khan, whom Daudrich nearly defeated in the leadership race.

“There’s an awful lot of hard feelings among people in (Daudrich’s) neck of the woods, but largely we’ve been able to explain why we did what we did, and people have more or less said they don’t like it, but they’ve accepted it,” Smith said.

Time will tell if PC party members have accepted the party’s actions, Adams said.

“I think Obby Khan’s challenge is to unite the party and make it look as if it is in a situation of being a government in waiting,” Adams said. “I think that affects the finances and I think it affects some of the spirit of the party membership for now.”

» Winnipeg Free Press