Tories hint at lawsuit over NDP claims

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This article was published 11/03/2022 (1277 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Progressive Conservative government hinted at legal action and demanded the NDP retract its accusation Premier Heather Stefanson had a conflict of interest in awarding a contract to a company for which her husband did business.

“Comments made by the NDP outside the legislative chamber are not protected against legal liability,” said Olivia Billson, the premier’s press secretary, in a statement late Thursday.

The accusations are false, she stated.

The premier, her husband Jason Stefanson and the companies involved “all followed the appropriate disclosure responsibilities under legislation,” Billson said.

During question period, NDP house leader Nahanni Fontaine said the premier was a member of Treasury Board and a cabinet committee that awarded a $23-million contract to Exchange Income Corp., which owns several air carriers, including Keewatin Air.

Jason Stefanson, working with CIBC World Markets, was one of several underwriters for $100 million in bonds issued for the company in 2017 and another $70 million in 2019, after the company was awarded the government contract.

Fontaine asked the premier why she didn’t recuse herself from discussions about the contract awarded to the company to transport justice officials to rural courts.

The premier said it’s “disappointing” the NDP was “taking shots” at family members of those in the chamber, and that Fontaine didn’t know what she was talking about.

“The member opposite is proving that she has no idea how banking works,” Stefanson said.

The underwriters of the two bond offers were awarded fees of $4 million and $2.8 million, according to the prospectus information which does not indicate how much Jason Stefanson and CIBC World Markets would have received. Fontaine told the house Exchange Income Corp. does “millions of dollars of business” with Stefanson’s family.

“This is a clear conflict,” the NDP justice critic said.

Ministers must recuse themselves if they have a dependent or spouse who has financial interests in the matter, she told the legislature.

There is no record Jason Stefanson had a financial interest in the company that was awarded the government contract.

The contract was awarded through a request-for-proposal process that doesn’t include financial information that would have identified him and CIBC World Markets as one of the underwriters.

Still, Fontaine said, the premier should have known about work her husband had been doing for the company and recused herself from awarding the contract, she told reporters outside the chamber.

“She should know that her husband is doing business with (Exchange Income Corp.) and stands to profit from the decisions being made,” said Fontaine. “I can’t prove that a wife knows what her husband does… She’s the premier of Manitoba. She should know what her husband is doing.”

In the house, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen called the NDP’s claims “false” and suggested they study the Tiger Dams report if they want to understand “a true conflict.”

The Manitoba ombudsman found that civil servants were directed to waive the competitive tendering process for the purchase of Tiger Dams flood-protection devices in 2014. The report found the NDP minister at the time, Steve Ashton, directed staff to recommend the purchase even though senior civil servants expressed concern about it.

“Not only did things not go to the Treasury Board,” Goertzen told the house, “there was no proper documentation.”

Outside the chamber, Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont questioned the NDP’s allegations.

“It doesn’t look great but there’s a difference between not looking great and meeting the legal threshold for a conflict,” said Lamont.

“If the NDP were really, really serious about this, they’d write an affidavit and take it to the courts,” he said.

Conflict of interest commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said Manitoba’s conflict of interest legislation does not give him any investigative powers but any voter can pay a fee and ask the court to rule on an alleged breach.

When new legislation takes effect after the 2023 provincial election, the commissioner will have the power to investigate and determine whether conflict rules have been broken, Schnoor told the Free Press.

If an MLA has contravened the act, the commissioner could recommend penalties ranging from a reprimand to a suspension, to a fine of up to $50,000. In an extreme case, the member could lose their seat.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca