Stefanson fined for ethics violation

WINNIPEG — Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson has made history for a second time.

The province’s first female premier became the first premier to be fined for breaking the conflict of interest law.

On Tuesday, Progressive Conservative MLAs voted alongside the NDP to accept an ethics commissioner’s report that recommended Stefanson be fined $18,000 for trying to get a controversial sand mine licensed after losing the Oct. 3, 2023 election, but before the NDP could be sworn in as the new government.

A $12,000 fine will be levied against her former deputy premier, Cliff Cullen, and economic development cabinet minister Jeff Wharton, who was re-elected, will have to pay $10,000, per Commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor’s recommendation.

Premier Wab Kinew called the fines “historic.”

“For the first time, a former premier has been fined,” Kinew said outside the chamber. “It’s the first time a sitting MLA has been fined,” the premier said, calling it “a stain on our history.”

On Tuesday, Tory Leader Obby Khan said his party accepts the ethics commissioner’s ruling of “wrong-doing,” but he avoided criticizing the actions of Stefanson, Cullen or Wharton. He was critical of the NDP for delaying debate and a vote on the report.

“Since the first time I had an opportunity to speak on this, I said the same thing over and over again,” Khan told reporters outside the chamber.

“We want to have it debated, voted on, accepted and moved forward,” said Khan, who was first elected in a Fort Whyte byelection in 2022 before winning the PC leadership in April.

“This could have been debated and voted on and accepted in the spring. The NDP refused to do that.”

The ethics commissioner’s 100-page report, released in May, concluded Stefanson and Cullen were aware the incoming government opposed licensing to Sio Silica to develop a sand mine in southeastern Manitoba.

Two days after Stefanson and the PCs lost the election, a deputy environment minister advised Cullen that in light of the caretaker convention, the department would not issue a licence to the Sio Silica project.

On Oct. 6, Sio Silica board member David Filmon — a son of former Tory premier Gary Filmon — sent a text to Cullen asking, “Did we get it done today?” Cullen replied “the bureaucracy failed to mention to me that there would be a different outcome on issuing if the NDP won. Made me look bad. I feel sick. Working on some options with Kathryn (Gerrard, the clerk of the executive council).”

Stefanson and Cullen agreed to look for options to have the licence approved, and involved Wharton, a cabinet minister at the time.

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

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

Squires also said the mining project was described by Wharton as being of significant importance to Stefanson, but because of a conflict, she couldn’t direct an approval herself.

Wharton, at the time, denied asking them to issue a licence to Sio Silica or telling anyone that Stefanson had a conflict of interest with the company.

Schnoor’s report said that Stefanson did not stand to benefit financially if the project was approved, but her efforts to push for a licence “lacked ethical and constitutional legitimacy.”

The attempt amounted to improperly furthering the interests of other people, the report said.

Stefanson has said she was acting in the public interest, had no personal stake in the project and no licence was issued in the end.

The PCs have said they won’t help pay the fines for Stefanson, Cullen or Wharton, who was removed from his critic duties by Khan before the summer break and has apologized.

Kinew said the trio of fined Tories “behaved inappropriately and broke the law” and that the PCs shouldn’t treat the matter “like any other political issue.”

The report, the premier said, didn’t answer all questions.

“The biggest question of all is why did Heather Stefanson do it?” Kinew said.

“What we know 100 per cent conclusively today is that Heather Stefanson and the other folks fined by the ethics commissioner were inappropriately advancing a private interest,” the premier said.

“What does that mean? They got voted out of office and they’re advancing a private interest — why did they do that? It’s wrong.”

He noted the $18,000 financial penalty Stefanson is required to pay won’t have much impact on the well-to-do former premier.

Under the law, there is a 30-day deadline for payment. After 30 days, it may be set off against any “indemnity, allowance or expense” otherwise payable to the member.

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from The Canadian Press