From Pakistani fighter cockpit to multimillionaire car-dealership owner in Canada

Perhaps the least surprised person in Canada after last month’s federal election was Wajid Khan.

Polls had the Liberals and Conservatives locked in a dead heat. So did Khan’s experienced Liberal handlers in Mississauga-Streetsville, who feared he might even lose to his veteran Conservative opponent.

But the 58-year-old political rookie barely broke a sweat as early returns gave him a nearly 2-1 margin over his closest foe, a lead he’d keep all night.

He remembers having to settle down his campaign manager in the days before the election.

“I told him that if I didn’t win by more than 5,000 votes, I’d consider myself a failure,” Khan recalled.

He won by more than 8,000 and earned more votes than all challengers combined.

But his self-assured confidence on the campaign trail was nothing new. It’s something that has led him to the top of the heap throughout life, from the cockpit of a fighter jet in Pakistan’s air force to multimillionaire owner of Canada’s largest Mazda car dealership…