Thanks to Ashton, Selinger’s political woes not over yet

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/06/2015 (4118 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was one of the more curious details to come out of the bitter NDP leadership battle.

Cabinet minister Steve Ashton, who along with fellow cabinet minister Theresa Oswald was challenging Premier Greg Selinger for the leadership, had rented space for his campaign office in a Portage Avenue building owned by the Peguis First Nation.

The ownership of the building was not a surprise; flush with treaty land entitlement money, Peguis has been aggressively pursuing Winnipeg real estate for some time now. The real intrigue was why Ashton, a minister of the Crown, would rent space from a First Nation that was involved in high-profile row with the provincial government.

Peguis is partners with the Manitoba Jockey Club in an ambitious plan to re-develop Assiniboia Downs, a plan that includes the future construction of a full-service casino. Peguis and the MJC filed a lawsuit against the province to protest its decision to withdraw a video lottery terminal agreement from the racetrack.

Ashton renting space from Peguis certainly sent a chill through some quarters of the NDP establishment. Many New Democrats believe Ashton has been way too close to Peguis and its gaming interests. Moreover, according to multiple sources, Ashton had been directly lobbying within government to grant Peguis a casino licence.

In an interview, Ashton argued that as the NDP’s northern power broker, he has a close relationship with many First Nations and has been a strong advocate both inside and outside government for aboriginal casinos.

Ashton went on to say that efforts to disparage him and his relationships with First Nations are nothing more than a vindictive hangover from the leadership campaign. “I’m not sure what the allegation is here,” Ashton said. “Have I been a strong advocate for First Nation gaming? Absolutely.

“This is just an overall attempt to smear me. This is what you have to expect when you put your name up for the leadership. Maybe there are some people who think the leadership race isn’t over.”

Ashton’s protests would seem reasonable enough, if it weren’t for the fact he had involved himself in other questionable transactions involving Interlake First Nations in general, and Peguis in particular.

This week, the Free Press reported that Ashton attempted last year to get approval for a $5-million untendered contract to purchase portable water-filled dams for the Interlake Tribal Council, an organization dominated by Peguis First Nation.

The dams would be purchased from International Flood Control Corporation, a company represented in Manitoba by Peter Ginakes, a Winnipeg businessman and restaurant owner with personal ties to Ashton and his family, who also serves on the board of directors of the Chief Peguis Investment Corporation, an agency of the First Nation.

There is no reason for the province to avoid Ginakes, IFCC, or Peguis. However, it is questionable for Ashton to push through an untendered contract involving two parties that have direct connections with each other, and with whom he has personal and professional connections.

Government sources said Ashton aggressively pursued the untendered contract between the tribal council and IFCC, as part of a plan to establish a First Nations emergency flood operations centre. Ashton confirmed his announcement was based on a deal worked out by then Peguis chief Glen Hudson specifically for the purchase of IFCC equipment. Given that Peguis and Ginakes were directly connected, Ashton should have ensured the matter went to tender.

Instead, sources said Ashton went to Treasury Board with an untendered contract, where it was flagged and rejected. It subsequently went to cabinet, where normally Treasury Board’s decision would have been approved. In this instance, the sources added, Selinger expressed support for the plan to go ahead untendered. Why he did that is not completely understood.

The premier’s office issued a statement Wednesday saying a decision to put the contract to tender was made in October. Sources said that decision followed tense discussions at cabinet, where several ministers indicated they were firmly opposed to any untendered deal going forward.

By that time, however, other events began to overtake the entire matter.

In November 2014, acting provincial ombudsman Mel Holley launched an investigation into Ashton’s decision to pursue a sole-source contract involving parties with which had had personal and political relationships.

Given his relationship to both IFCC and Peguis, the only way for Ashton to protect himself from allegations of conflict of interest would have been to rely on the rules governing the tendering of contracts. With an appropriate request for proposals, Ashton could have easily defended the decision to act as an intermediary between the First Nations and the dam maker.

But he didn’t do that. Instead, it appears Ashton cut corners while trying to bully his cabinet colleagues into doing something they knew was wrong. And perhaps worst of all, he appears to have enlisted the premier in his plan, a man who does not need any more trouble than he has right now.

It would be a good time for Selinger to explain fully and completely what his role was in supporting Ashton in the pursuit of an untendered contract. Unfortunately, save for one brief statement, Selinger has not seen fit to defend what happened.

Selinger may have thought that after successfully defending his leadership in March, the worst was over. Thanks to Ashton, the worst may be just beginning.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca