Selinger’s former top political adviser was charged with theft under $5,000

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/04/2016 (3446 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The relationship between Greg Selinger and his former top political adviser is again in the spotlight after the NDP leader admitted this week to knowing she has faced past criminal charges.

Court documents reveal that Heather Grant-Jury, 53, when president of the Winnipeg Labour Council in 2003 was charged with theft under $5,000.

Charge papers obtained by the Free Press reveal that while she was an employee at the former Zellers store on McPhillips Street, she and her father, Herbert Grant-Jury, were charged with stealing merchandise. The charges were later stayed.

“She did disclose that item (the charge) after she was hired,” Selinger told the Free Press on Tuesday. “What I appreciated is that she identified that this occurred in the past several years ago.”

Selinger maintains that Grant-Jury walked into his office some time after she was hired as his principal secretary 17 months ago and disclosed to him what had occurred. Selinger said she told him the charge occurred at the same time she had been “identified” as someone trying to get the store unionized.

“She identified that there had been an incident there and she has been identified as someone working to help the people there get organized,” Selinger said. “They happened at the same time.”

Attempts to reach Grant-Jury for comment were unsuccessful.

Transcripts from the subsequent court proceedings show the charge against Grant-Jury and her father was eventually stayed April 5, 2004, after a letter from Grant-Jury was presented to the judge and it was established that Grant-Jury did not want her previous job back. That same year, Grant-Jury was hired by United Food and Commercial Workers Local (UFCW) Local 832.

David Camfield, an associate professor of labour studies and sociology at the University of Manitoba, said it’s not unheard of to hear of companies going to extreme lengths to keep workers from unionizing.

“Unions tend to improve workers’ rights and raise workers’ wages and companies will sometimes go to great lengths in their attempt to stop that,” he said. “It is illegal, but it is not uncommon.”

Grant-Jury was on secondment from the UFCW when she was hired by Selinger as his principal secretary at a rate of $134,000 a year on Nov. 3, 2014. She returned to the union as its education and training director on April 2, 2015, after Selinger successfully defended his party leadership at a vote the previous month.

In February, the Free Press broke the news the NDP and UFCW had cut all ties with Grant-Jury, 53, amid an “internal investigation” being conducted by the union. The Winnipeg Police Service later confirmed they had received a report from the UFCW.

“Heather Grant-Jury is no longer employed by the UFCW Local 832 Training Centre. We are conducting an internal investigation and have no other details to provide at this time,” union spokesman Blake Crothers said in an email in February.

Jeff Traeger, the current president of UFCW Local 832, said he only learned about the 2003 charge when the information was presented to him by the Free Press. Dave Sauer, the current president of the Winnipeg Labour Council, also said he was unaware of any past charges. Both were not in their current positions when Grant-Jury was hired by the organizations.

“I don’t know why she wouldn’t have told us, but she didn’t,” Traeger said.

The current internal investigation into Grant-Jury is ongoing and Traeger said he will only speak to it when the investigation is closed.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Jen Zoratti | Next

Wednesdays

What's next in arts, life and pop culture.

Sign up for Jen Zoratti | Next

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“These things do take some time, but I have no update. But I have committed to the members that I am elected to represent that at such a time when I am in position to be completely transparent about what happened, I will do so and will do so with the media,” Traeger said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Brian Pallister said the latest information puts Selinger’s judgment further into question.

“The big issue is the fact that he enlisted help during the leadership race from Ms. Grant-Jury, used his office and signed a six-figure contract for her purposes. The position was vacant before she was hired and vacant after she left,” Pallister said.

— with files from Larry Kusch

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca