Training-centre funding makes allegations facing Grant-Jury a public matter: Tories

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This article was published 10/02/2016 (3522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Greg Selinger says he can assure the public that taxpayer money is not at risk in an internal union probe involving one of his former key advisors.

Selinger and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832 recently cut ties with Heather Grant-Jury over undisclosed allegations of financial impropriety.

Grant-Jury was the union’s director of training. In November 2014, she was seconded from UFCW, on an emergency basis, to serve as the premier’s principal secretary when five cabinet ministers resigned and Selinger needed a top political advisor he knew would be loyal to him.

On Wednesday, the Progressive Conservative Opposition, citing Manitoba Public Accounts reports going back to 2008, said more than $900,000 in government funds had been paid to Local 832 to fund training programs in recent years.

PC House Leader Kelvin Goertzen demanded assurances that “taxpayers’ dollars weren’t used inappropriately” at the union training centre, which was then under Grant-Jury’s direction.

In a series of interviews with reporters in his office later in the day, Selinger said the union has confirmed that there is “no connection between their internal investigation and any public resources.”

“The organization, itself, has confirmed that. And my officials have been in touch with them and they believe the same thing based on the information they’ve got,” the premier told the Free Press.

UFCW also issued a statement Wednesday denying any link between its internal probe and any public training funds.

“All funding provided by both the provincial and federal government for programs offered at our training centre in Winnipeg and in Brandon have been utilized appropriately for the purposes requested,” said Local 832 spokesman Blake Crothers in an email.

“Our government funding has always been subject to strict reporting that allows us to easily confirm that the money was spent for the purposes it was intended for. Our interim training centre director has confirmed this internally and we are confident that the auditors will also confirm this once their work is completed,” he added.

The assurances by the premier and the union followed criticisms that the premier was not sufficiently forthcoming about what he had called “a matter with a separate organization.”

Goertzen said the training funds the union had received made it a public issue. He also said the fact the premier hired Grant-Jury 15 months ago speaks “very poorly” of his judgement.

“The premier is ultimately responsible for who he brings into his office. The premier is ultimately responsible for who he entrusts with the most important office in the province of Manitoba,” the PC critic said.

Selinger said Grant-Jury, a former United Way of Winnipeg campaign chairwoman, came highly recommended, with “a strong record of service to the community.”

She remained as the premier’s top political advisor until after he defeated challengers to his leadership at an NDP convention last March 8.

In answer to a reporter’s question, Selinger indicated Grant-Jury did not undergo any formal vetting process before she was hired, as is done with prospective election candidates, for instance.

The premier also confirmed that UFCW Local 832 president Jeff Traeger has resigned as co-chair of the NDP’s election planning committee. Selinger said there are no allegations against Traeger, but the union leader felt it was best to step down.

“He felt that it was the appropriate thing to do, given that they were conducting an investigation,” Selinger said.

Grant-Jury also played a key role in the NDP’s re-election effort until the party demanded she resign from its election operations sub-committee and all other party positions at the end of December. She was also told to resign from the Manitoba Public Insurance board, a position to which she had been appointed Oct. 28.

Meanwhile, the government’s own review of its funding of UFCW training centres reveals that a total of $1,043,573 in public funds had gone there since 2007.

“These are funds provided to the UFCW Training Centre for programs in support of worker adjustment and essential skills training to help workers upgrade their education and transition to new jobs,” Naline Rampersad, the premier’s press secretary, said in an email.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca