Cabinet minister to sell biz after conflict of interest violation ’I take full responsibility for this mistake’ By: Carol Sanders Posted: 10:56 AM CDT Thursday, Sep. 19, 2024 Last Modified: 5:10 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 19, 2024 Updates

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This article was published 19/09/2024 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba cabinet minister Ian Bushie said he would sell his family business after the ethics commissioner ruled he had violated the conflict of interest law.

“The ethics commissioner did not require me to do this, but I’ve decided to sell my business and I’m in the process of doing that as we speak,” the municipal and northern relations minister said at a hastily called news conference Thursday. “Upon reflection, I want to go above and beyond.”

His business — Grandpa George’s gas station and convenience store in Hollow Water First Nation, the largest in the area — renewed a contract with the provincial government on April 1, which violates the law, commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor wrote in the report.

“Being part of this team means being accountable,” said Bushie, who is responsible for Indigenous economic development, as he was flanked by three NDP caucus members.

“Selling my business shows my (unequivocal) commitment to my role on this team. It’s important to show that I’m taking full responsibility for what has happened here.”

The MLA for Keewatinook has owned the store in his home community since August 1996. He is the lone proprietor of the shop but told the commissioner he plays no part in its day-to-day operations, which are overseen by a manager.

The business had a government contract for many years to provide groceries and supplies to workers who fight wildfires in the area for many years.

Contracts in existence at the time of an MLA’s election are permitted, but renewals and extensions are not. MLAs must also include any contracts with the government in their disclosure statements, and Bushie contravened the law by failing to do so, the report said, adding the facts of the complaint are not a matter of dispute.

The law took effect Oct. 4, 2023.

The total amount the government paid to Grandpa George’s in 2023-24 was $1,872.19. In this fiscal year, the store has billed $105.12. It has billed $183,982.96 since the 2012-14 fiscal year, the report stated.

The report found Bushie’s contraventions were inadvertent and noted he “apologized and accepted responsibility for his error.”

“I therefore recommend that no penalty be imposed,” Schnoor wrote in the report.

His investigation was conducted based on a June 3 request filed by Progressive Conservative caucus chairman Greg Nesbitt, MLA for Riding Mountain. Interim PC Leader Wayne Ewasko asked Premier Wab Kinew in question period that day to remove Bushie from his duties until the investigation had concluded.

“It was something I contemplated for a long period of time.”–Ian Bushie on his decision to sell his business

Ewasko accused the NDP of “self-enrichment at the cabinet table” and “sliding $100,000 cheques across the cabinet table.”

Bushie told reporters that day that the long-running agreement allowed for his store to provide up to $100,000 in groceries and supplies but the business never came close to billing the natural resources department that amount. The largest amount billed in a fiscal year was $44,549.80 in 2021-22.

The agreement with the store was cancelled by the government on June 3, the day the PCs raised the matter in the legislative assembly, said Bushie Thursday.

“I take full responsibility for this mistake and this oversight,” Bushie told reporters in his office at the legislature. “I’m committed to fixing this and being accountable to all Manitobans and the confidence the public has in their elected representatives.”

The PCs said Thursday the party was satisfied with the commissioner’s investigation but said the violation shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

“Given the accusations of dysfunction within the NDP, Manitobans are wondering whether the minister’s sudden plan to sell his business was in fact on direct orders from the premier himself,” Ewasko said in a statement.

Bushie said he made the decision to sell his business and that it has nothing to do with the NDP caucus recently removing Mark Wasyliw for not winding down his business as a criminal defence lawyer.

“It was something I contemplated for a long period of time.”

Bushie said he first considered selling the store and gas bar when he became an elected official in 2019.

“We’d begun that process long before the last few days,” he said about deciding to sell. “From my perspective, this is something that I wanted to do to show my commitment to caucus, as well.”

When asked if he thinks other members of NDP caucus should sell their businesses to avoid any possible or perceived conflicts of interest, he answered “to each his own.”

Bushie said it was “a learning experience for all of our members here” to make sure they’re familiar with new conflict of interest legislation that came into effect the day after the provincial election that swept the NDP into power.

The MLA admits he’s emotional about selling the business he’s owned for 28 years.

“It’s a family business. When we talk about a small business in a small community, it means a great deal to be able to give back to the community. That is something I took great pride in all these years. I look forward to that new chapter going forward.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Ian Bushie COI