NDP files Elections Manitoba complaint over Tories’ sale of former party HQ

Manitoba New Democrats have asked the province’s elections commissioner to investigate the Progressive Conservatives for planning to use proceeds from the sale of the former PC party headquarters as income.

The former Tory headquarters at 23 Kennedy St., east of the Manitoba Legislature grounds, is up for sale for $800,000.

The 114-year-old home, once known as the Reid House, served as the party’s headquarters from the 1970s until 2025, according the Manitoba Historical Society.

According to provincial property and corporate records, the home is owned by a company called Nocorp Investments Ltd., which lists Keith LaBossiere and Mike Watson as shareholders.

Late last year, PC Leader Obby Khan said Nocorp is a trust that intends to donate the proceeds of the property sale to the party.

In a letter dated Jan. 30, NDP secretary Evan Krosney asked provincial Elections Commissioner Bill Bowles to investigate this plan because corporate donations to political parties are not permitted in Manitoba.

Transferring proceeds of the sale from a registered business corporation to the Progressive Conservative Party “would clearly constitute an illegal contribution,” Krosney said in the letter, which he shared with CBC News.

The NDP included a legal opinion in favour of its argument. In that opinion, lawyer Greg Bartel noted the PCs only listed $91,000 worth of assets in the party’s most recent financial statement.

Bartel claimed the PCs have either misreported their assets or intend “to accept a prohibited contribution.”

Bartel also noted the maximum individual donation to a party is $5,000.

Jon Lovlin, a spokesperson for PC Leader Khan, said the party only received a copy of the NDP letter Friday and will respond to Elections Manitoba “in due course.”