Manitoba Opposition leader Obby Khan was castigated Tuesday by legislature Speaker Tom Lindsey for remarks made toward a non-binary cabinet minister that Lindsey described as hateful and dehumanizing.

Khan, however, rejected Lindsey’s version of events, which included the release of a short audio recording. He said he meant nothing hateful when he called deputy premier Uzoma Asagwara a “terrible person” and added the remark “whatever you are.”

The controversy erupted during a raucous question period on March 17. The NDP complained to Lindsey that Khan had made the remarks, which were not captured clearly by the official legislature livestream recording amid a lot of heckling.

On Tuesday, Lindsey ruled on the matter and released a 15-second snippet of audio recorded by different microphones inside the chamber.

“On this recording, I can clearly hear the leader of the official Opposition say, ‘You are a terrible person, whatever you are,”’ Lindsey told the chamber.

“I was shocked and appalled to hear that such a dehumanizing comment had in fact been made in this chamber.”

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While Lindsey found the words offensive, he ruled they did not constitute a threat that violated parliamentary rules, as submitted by the governing New Democrats.

Khan repeated his version of events Tuesday. He said he was challenging NDP hecklers to repeat whatever they were saying outside the chamber, where they would not be protected from legal action. Parliamentary privilege shelters politicians from possible libel suits for remarks made in the chamber.

“I did not make any statements intended to target or demean the minister or anyone else based on their background, identity or role,” Khan told reporters.

“I did say, ‘Whatever you are saying, say it outside.”’

The 15-second audio recording released by Lindsey captures Khan saying “whatever you are” amid other people heckling and an NDP cabinet minister who has the floor and is answering a question. The noise gets louder immediately after that phrase and the New Democrats are heard protesting the comment.

The audio recording is only a “fragment” of the heckling at the time, Khan said Tuesday.

The NDP did not buy Khan’s explanation. They pointed to previous controversial remarks by the Tories, such as their 2023 election campaign that promoted “parental rights” over children’s education. The NDP called that idea a veiled threat to transgender kids.

Asagwara said Khan does not deserve to be in office.

“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.”

Khan apologized in the chamber immediately following the Speaker’s ruling, before he had a chance to hear the recoding.

“I apologize … to everyone in the chamber and all Manitobans for those words. 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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