Former Manitoba premier violated Conflict of Interest Act by pushing silica sand project: ethics commissioner [Video]

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.

“A government that loses an election has …