Bokhari tired of ‘same old’ election conversations By: Carol Sanders Posted: 11:27 AM CDT Friday, Oct. 7, 2022

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This article was published 06/10/2022 (810 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the only woman of colour, the only candidate who’s led a political party and the only lawyer on the ballot with the legal experience to make sure the city doesn’t sign another contract that ends up soaking taxpayers, Rana Bokhari says she’s the best choice for mayor if Winnipeggers want real change.

A different perspective is needed to shake off the shackles that keep Winnipeg in the past, doing things the same way year after year and expecting a different outcome, said the Manitoba-born, first-generation Pakistani-Canadian who grew up on a chicken farm in Anola.

Rival campaigns aren’t offering anything new, said Bokhari, 44, who’s stepped away from the law firm she started to run for mayor.

“We’re doing the same old, same old — the conversations are exactly the same. I can pull up three elections from the past and talk about them today and nothing will have changed. It’s exactly the same,” she said in an interview in her toy-festooned Transcona home, where she lives with her widowed mother who provides daycare for Bokhari’s three-year-old niece.

Winnipeg’s demographics have shifted dramatically with growing Black, Indigenous and people of colour populations, newcomers, first-generation Canadians and more people in gig-economy jobs and working from home, but that’s not reflected in most of the candidates’ messaging, she said.

“That’s why there’s so much voter apathy. People ask, ‘Why would I engage in this conversation when it has nothing to do with me?,’” said Bokhari, who identifies both as a Muslim woman and “a girl from Anola.” She’s felt the sting of Islamophobia and, when her family moved to Pakistan for several years when her late father became ill, what it’s like to be an outsider.

Her experience as Manitoba Liberal leader from 2013 to 2016 before stepping aside after failing to win a seat in Fort Rouge (won by NDP Leader Wab Kinew) taught her important lessons that guide her mayoral race, she said.

“I learned how to not get pushed into anything, which is huge, to be authentic and exactly who I am,” she said.

Running for mayor means she can speak her mind and not worry about toeing the party line or running afoul of big donors, she said.

“It’s freedom,” she said.

Her campaign team is deliberately made up entirely of women. “I ensured they’re all women so we can have very good conversations and make good decisions and not be caught up in someone trying to control you,” said Bokhari, who is single.

After nearly 65 per cent of Winnipeggers voted in a 2018 plebiscite not to remove the barricades at Portage and Main, Bokhari has promised she’d get rid of them so pedestrians can move about more freely and to make downtown more open and accessible.

She’s in favour of safe-consumption sites in the city to reduce harm to people battling addiction and going after those who abuse the public trust.

Her first campaign promise was to call for a provincial inquiry into the police headquarters construction scandal and to push for the city to proceed with lawsuits seeking accountability for the runaway spending on the project.

“It’s not only to recoup that money. We have to have that precedent set for people to know that just because there’s a change in governance doesn’t mean you’re going to be scot-free. What kind of message is that sending to people?”

She said her experience in commercial and real estate law and working with First Nations gives her an edge when it comes to keeping an eye on the tendering process to make sure Winnipeg gets good value for its money when it negotiates contracts.

“What was my practice for seven years? Pipes, pavement and water — all those nitty-gritty things that we need the skill set for,” she said.

A month before election day, a Probe Research poll showed only three per cent of Winnipeggers would vote for her.

Bokhari said she’s proud that she participated and has been true to herself.

“I know there’s a lot of young women who look like me who are watching, and they can see it.”

Regardless of the outcome, she plans to stay involved in politics.

“I don’t think I can stand on the sidelines anymore watching people,” she said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca