Stefanson broke ethics rules: report

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This article was published 22/05/2025 (364 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Former premier Heather Stefanson and two of her ex-cabinet ministers violated conflict-of-interest laws after losing the 2023 election and should be fined thousands, the province’s ethics watchdog has found.

Ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor’s 100-page report said Stefanson did not stand to benefit financially from approval of the Sio Silica project, but her efforts to push for a licence “lacked ethical and constitutional legitimacy.” He recommended she be fined $18,000.

Schnoor recommended a $12,000 fine for former Spruce Woods MLA, deputy premier and finance minister Cliff Cullen and a $10,000 fine for Red River North MLA Jeff Wharton, the former economic development minister who was re-elected.

Another sitting MLA, Derek Johnson (Interlake-Gimli), was not in breach of the act, the report found.

The conflict of interest complaint was made by the governing NDP over a sand mine proposal southeast of Winnipeg.

On Jan. 12, 2024, the NDP accused then-Progressive Conservative Leader Stefanson, Cullen, Wharton and Johnson of breaking conflict of interest laws in an attempt to approve the sand mine after the party lost the Oct. 3, 2023 election and during the brief “caretaker period” before the new government was sworn in.

While the proposed mine was never approved, questions were raised about whether there was an attempt to violate ethics rules and how new legislation that took effect after the election would be upheld.

The report concluded Stefanson and Cullen were aware the incoming government was opposed to the PCs issuing the project a licence. She and Cullen agreed to look for options to have the licence approved anyway, and involved Wharton.

“Their intention was clearly that he act on the option,” Schnoor wrote. The pair broke the caretaker convention that requires outgoing governments to stick to routine matters and refrain from significant decisions.

Stefanson, Wharton, Cullen and Johnson attended a presentation for cabinet in August 2023 about the caretaker convention, and confirmed they understood its requirements, the report said.

“Ms. Stefanson was aware of the caretaker convention and knew, or should have known, that the attempts to … approve the project licence were contrary to that convention (and) could have resulted in a decision with permanent and significant consequences,” the report said.

“More importantly, those efforts lacked ethical and constitutional legitimacy. I found her repeated dismissal of the caretaker convention in her written representations to me — a convention that is central to respect for the wishes of voters — to be disheartening.”

Stefanson said Wednesday she spoke with the NDP 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,” said a written statement issued by her lawyer, Blair Graham. “No licence was issued to the applicant by my government.”

Any decisions she made before the new government was sworn in were made “to further and protect the public interest … I was premier, I did my job, and when the people elected a new government, I deferred to the NDP government and respected their views on how to proceed.”

While the project was not issued a licence, “the true harm here was to public confidence in our democratic processes and institutions,” Schnoor wrote.

His report dominated question period Wednesday.

“They just made history in the worst possible way,” Premier Wab Kinew said of the PCs. “A government that has lost power should not be pushing through controversial decisions. This is probably one of the worst things that the government has ever done in the history of Manitoba.”

The premier said he expects the legislative assembly will decide what action to take on the recommended penalties after members have had a chance to digest the report over the summer.

Hundreds of pages of documents, emails and text messages were reviewed and 19 people were interviewed — in some cases, more than once.

The complaints were based on public statements made by former environment minister Kevin Klein and acting environment minister Rochelle Squires (who both lost their seats in the election). They claimed they received separate calls from Wharton on Oct. 12, asking them to approve an environmental licence for the sand-extraction project.

Squires said the mining project was described by Wharton as being of significant importance to Stefanson, but because of a conflict, the former premier couldn’t direct the approval herself. Squires did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The line between serving the public and serving political interests “was clearly crossed,” Klein said in an email Wednesday. “I understood the timing was inappropriate and the pressure was improper. I chose to stand by the principles I was raised with — integrity, accountability, and respect for the democratic process.

“This kind of conduct is exactly why people lose faith in their elected officials. Mr. Wharton should take responsibility and resign,” Klein said.

Wharton has previously denied asking Klein and Squires to issue a licence to Sio Silica or telling anyone that Stefanson had a conflict of interest with the company. The ethics report said Wharton acknowledged calling both Klein and Squires to tell them they had the power to approve the licence and asking them to do so.

The report said the longtime MLA has expressed “a measure of remorse” for an error in judgment and that he offered to make a public apology — which was a mitigating factor in determining the appropriate penalty.

Wharton was not in the legislature Wednesday or made available for comment.

PC Leader Obby Khan said he has not had a chance to talk to Wharton about the report’s findings.

“I want to hear his side of the story, I want to know what he thinks of this report,” Khan told reporters outside the chamber.

Khan, who won a PC leadership vote last month, said he was disappointed in the report’s outcome, because “the commissioner and the MLAs weren’t on the same page when it comes to the caretaker convention.”

He said he accepted the recommendations and needs time to read the report.

Sio Silica CEO Feisal Somji welcomed the report.

“It is important for all Manitobans to know that Sio Silica was not involved in the issues under investigation, and our company has always respected the independence of Manitoba’s regulatory processes,” he said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Cullen did not respond to a request for comment.

» Winnipeg Free Press