Wab Kinew:
After you voted, former Premier Heather Stefanson and the PCs tried to ram through a controversial mining deal—after they lost power. They were warned. They broke the law. They were fined. Worse, they ignored your vote. In our democracy, that’s a line you don’t cross.
Former Manitoba premier violated Conflict of Interest Act by pushing silica sand project: ethics commissioner, Ethics commissioner recommends fines ranging from $10K to $18K for Stefanson, 2 cabinet ministers by Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press with files from CBC, May 21, 2025
Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson and two of her Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers violated the province’s conflict-of-interest law and should be fined, the province’s ethics commissioner ruled Wednesday.
In a 100-page report, ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said Stefanson, then deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then economic development minister Jeff Wharton acted improperly by pushing for the approval of a silica sand mining project after the Tories lost the Oct. 3, 2023, election to the NDP.
Despite the election loss, the three Tories tried to get the Sio Silica project approved before the new NDP government, led by Wab Kinew, was to be sworn in, Schnoor wrote. Their actions violated the Conflict of Interest Act and contravened the caretaker convention — a long-standing parliamentary principle that forbids outgoing governments from making major decisions.
“The caretaker convention stands at the very core of our democracy,” the report said.
Since Herr Harper, Canadian ReformaRepuglicons federally and provincially keep showing us they don’t give a shit about democracy or the rule of law.
- Kinew accuses more PCs of trying to push mining deal through after election, but Tory says NDP ‘crying wolf’
- Manitoba NDP files ethics complaints claiming outgoing PC government tried to push mining deal through
“A government that loses an election has lost the confidence of the people and has lost the legitimacy to do anything beyond maintaining the status quo until the new government can take office.”
Schnoor is recommending fines of $18,000 for Stefanson, $12,000 for Cullen and $10,000 for Wharton. The legislative assembly gets to make the final decision.Wowza!!!! Courageous Commissioner!
There was no evidence that the three politicians would have had any financial gain had the project gone ahead, Schnoor wrote, but their actions amounted to improperly furthering the interests of other people.
‘I was premier, I did my job’: StefansonShe’s proven herself, like Danielle Smith, Pierre Poilievre, Scott Moe, Doug Ford, to be untrustworthy. I believe nothing she spews.
Stefanson, in a written statement from her lawyer Wednesday, said she talked with the incoming NDP government about the project.
“I had no obligation to do so but reached out to the incoming government and fully considered their views before deciding on what to do. No licence was issued to the applicant by my government,” the statement read.
“None of the decisions I took in the period before the new NDP government was sworn in were made for any purpose other than to further and protect the public interest.”
The Canadian Press was unable to contact Cullen, who, like Stefanson, has left politics. He told Schnoor that he had simply sought information and did not pressure anyone, but that was contradicted by other evidence, the report said.
Red River North MLA Wharton, the only one of the three who still holds elected office, was not at the legislature Wednesday. He has offered to publicly apologize and has described his actions as a good-faith error in judgment, Schnoor’s report said.
The mining project would have created thousands of wells over 24 years across a large swath of southeastern Manitoba andruined air, land and water for many living nearby created many jobs, although only an initial phase near Vivian, in the rural municipality of Springfield, was being considered for approval.
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The NDP government rejected the project in February 2024, citing the potential impact on drinking water among other concerns.
The conflict of interest first came to light after Rochelle Squires and Kevin Klein, two other former Tory cabinet ministers who lost their seats in October 2023, said they were called by Wharton after the election and pressured to award the project an environmental licence. They both said they refused because of the caretaker convention.
Wharton denied the accusation in December 2023 and said he was simply gathering information about the mining project to pass on to the incoming government.
‘Line was clearly crossed’: Klein
Kinew said the report is history-making.A powerful wise and wonderful Premier and leader. Wish we had many more of him, one for each province and territory!~
“The premier of the day here was found to have broken the law and not had constitutional legitimacy,” the premier told reporters Wednesday.
“I hope 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 its final gasps in such an unethical way.”
The legislature will likely wait until after the summer break to decide whether to accept Schnoor’s report and impose the fines, Kinew said.
Obby Khan, a former cabinet minister under Stefanson who was elected this spring as Tory leader, said there is a need to clear up what can be done under the caretaker convention.
“I accept the rulings of the commissioner,” he said. “I also accept that there needs to be an update within the caretaker convention as well, so that this doesn’t happen going forward.”
Klein, who is now owner of the Winnipeg Sun newspaper, called on Wharton to resign his legislature seat.
“There’s 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 the company was not the subject of the investigation and was not found to have acted improperly. It has renewed plans for silica sand extraction in Manitoba.In a creepy underhanded way, in my view. Premier Kinew, please do not fall into Sio Silica’s propaganda trap, say no, and keep saying no. The sand is not pure enough for much but frac’ing which must be criminalized.
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