The former Prime Minister of Manitoba, Heather Stefanson, and two of her progressive conservative cabinet ministers violated the Conflict of Interest Law of the province and should be fined, the Ethics Commissioner of the Province ruled on Wednesday.
In a 100 -page report, Ethics Commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said that Stefanson, then vice president of Prime Minister Cliff Cullen and then Economic Development Minister Jeff Wharton acted incorrectly when pressuring for the approval of a silica sand mining project after the Torso lost the NDP elections of October 3 to the NDP.
Despite the loss of elections, the three Tories tried to approve the Sio Silica project before the new NDP government, led by Wab Kinew, had to swore, Schnoor wrote. Their actions violated the Conflict of Interest Law and contravened the Rookie Convention, a long -standing parliamentary principle that prohibits outgoing governments from making important decisions.
“The Caregroads Convention is in the nucleus of our democracy,” the report said.
“A government that loses an election has lost the confidence of the people and has lost the legitimacy of doing something beyond maintaining the status quo until the new government can assume the position.”
Schnoor recommends fines of $ 18,000 for Stefanson, $ 12,000 for Cullen and $ 10,000 for Wharton. The Legislative Assembly can make the final decision.
There was no evidence that the three politicians would have had any financial gain if the project was advanced, Schnoor wrote, but their actions were equivalent to incorrectly promoting other people’s interests.
‘It was the prime minister, I did my work’: Stefanson
Stefanson, in a written statement of his lawyer on Wednesday, said he spoke with the incoming government of the PND about the project.
“I did not have the obligation to do so, but I contacted the incoming government and considered its views completely before deciding what to do. No license was issued to the applicant for my government,” he reads in the statement.
“None of the decisions I made in the period before the new PND government was sworn in was taken for any purpose that is no longer and protect the public interest.”
The Canadian press could not contact Cullen, who, like Stefanson, has left politics. He told Schnoor that he had simply sought information and that he did not press anyone, but that he was contradicted by another evidence, according to the report.
Wharton, the only one of the three who still has a chosen position, was not in the legislature on Wednesday. He apologized in a written statement on Wednesday night and said he acted on an issue that could have led to billions of dollars in investment for the province.
“It was never my intention to violate any parliamentary convention or tradition,” he wrote.
“I apologize for any of my behavior that was found below my parliamentary obligations or my personal ethics standard.”
The mining project would have created thousands of wells for 24 years in a large strip in southeastern Manitoba and created many works, although only an initial phase near Vivian, in the rural municipality of Springfield, was being considered for approval.
The NDP government rejected the project in February 2024, citing the potential impact on drinking water, among other concerns.
The conflict of interest came to light for the first time after Rochelle Squires and Kevin Klein, two other former Ministers of the Tory Cabinet who lost their seats in October 2023, said Wharton called them after the elections and pressed to grant the project an environmental license. Both said they refused due to the Caregivers Convention.
Wharton denied the accusation in December 2023 and said he was simply collecting information about the mining project to transmit to the incoming government.
‘The line was clearly crossed’: Klein
Kinew said the report is history.
“It was discovered that the day prime minister had violated the law here and had not had constitutional legitimacy,” the prime minister told journalists on Wednesday.
“I hope that Manitobans, in fact, all Canadians, take a look at this and see how sad it is when a government that loses power tries to exercise their final gasps in such an ethical way.”
The legislature will probably wait until after the summer holidays to decide whether to accept Schnoor’s report and impose fines, Kinew said.
Obby Khan, a former Cabinet Minister under Stefanson, who was chosen this spring as Tory leader, said it is necessary to clarify what can be done under the caregiver convention.
“I accept the decisions of the commissioner,” he said. “I also accept that there must also be an update within the convention of the caregiver, so that this does not happen in the future.”
Klein, who now owns the Winnipeg Sun newspaper, asked Wharton to renounce his legislature seat.
“There is a line between serving the public and serving political interests, and in this case that line was clearly crossed,” he said.
Sio Silica said in a statement that the company was not subject to the investigation and it was not discovered that it had acted incorrectly. He has renewed plans for the extraction of silica sand in Manitoba.
A report by the Manitoba Ethics Commissioner says that former Heather Stefanson Prime Minister and two of her cabinet ministers acted incorrectly when pressing for the approval of a Mining Project of Sand of Silica. Jeffrey Schnoor ruled that his actions violated the Law on Conflict of Interest and against what is commonly called “Caregroads Convention”, a long -standing parliamentary principle that prohibits outgoing governments from making important decisions in most cases.
