Manitoba’s U.S. trade rep paid big bucks — nearly double premier’s salary

The former journalist hired to run Manitoba’s trade office in Washington is earning $387,000 annually — a salary beyond that of other public officials, including the premier.

The province confirmed Richard Madan’s expected annual salary on Thursday. The former White House correspondent, who reported for CTV and CBC for nearly a decade, leads the fledgling D.C. trade office and represents Manitoba interests south of the border.

Madan’s pay is nearly double the $188,292 Wab Kinew earned as premier in the 2025 fiscal year, and 73 per cent more than Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham’s $223,338 salary in 2024, public compensation disclosure documents show.

“We need a permanent presence, and this is the cost of doing business in (President Donald) Trump’s America,” Kinew told reporters after Opposition Leader Obby Khan criticized him over Madan’s salary during question period.

“He’s got the smarts, he’s got the look, he’s got the connections in D.C. to be able to advocate for our province… We need to make that case to the Trump administration that doing business is good for your country, just as it is good for our country. Mr. Madan is a storyteller who can make that case.”

The American-born, Alberta-raised journalist arrived in Winnipeg in June to officially begin his role. He has been tasked with building relationships and seeding long-term projects with U.S. elected officials, industrialists and business leaders.

Kinew said he expects Madan to help maintain tax exemptions that benefit Manitoba producers of pork, steel and other goods during the upcoming renegotiation of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.

Since he started the job, Madan has met with Manitobans, worked with the provincial agricultural sector to prepare for new country-of-origin labelling in the U.S., and encouraged business partners to engage in CUSMA consultations, provincial spokesperson Ryan Stelter said.

“We need a permanent presence, and this is the cost of doing business in (President Donald) Trump’s America.”

He has also “navigated the federal bureaucracies” to establish Manitoba’s new office in the Canadian Embassy in Washington, and “started the work to organize an advocacy day for Manitoba on Capitol Hill” to highlight provincial supply chains and other areas of note, Stelter said.

Speaking to the Free Press earlier this month, Madan said forming relationships is a critical part of his job.

“It’s not as simple as just walking in and saying, ‘Here’s Manitoba,’” he said at the time. “There’s relationships that need to be built. These politicians are the most lobbied on the planet, so it’s fierce competition to get their attention.”

Manitoba budgeted $800,000 for the Washington office, which includes funding for office space, salaries and administrative support.

Gillingham was asked about Madan’s salary at an unrelated news conference Thursday.

“We’re in a time right now when Canadians, and certainly Manitobans, need to do all they can to deal with the tariffs and the massive shift in the trade relations with the U.S.,” he said, without commenting on the amount.

“Whatever we can do to advance and strengthen, if possible, and heal the trade relationship between Canada and the U.S., I think should be done.”

“It blows my mind that this person is making (almost) the same money as the prime minister and has not a proven iota of experience or trade deals that have come in.”

The leaders of Manitoba business associations, including the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, have said establishing trade relationships in Washington is crucial to ensuring the province’s economic future.

Khan, however, railed against Madan’s salary. He described him as “the premier’s old friend” because both men had been reporters at the CBC.

A provincial spokesperson said Kinew and Madan didn’t work together directly and did not have a personal relationship prior to Madan being hired.

“It blows my mind that this person is making (almost) the same money as the prime minister and has not a proven iota of experience or trade deals that have come in. It’s really, really upsetting,” Khan said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney will earn $406,000 this year.

Stelter noted Madan’s salary is comparable to that of other trade representatives and lobbyists hired by other provincial governments.

Ontario’s David Paterson — a former executive with General Motors Canada, BlackBerry and Manulife Financial — earns $364,000, and that province spends $650,00 per year on a Washington lobbying firm, Stelter said.

Saskatchewan, which does not have a dedicated trade representative in D.C., has spent $8.2 million on lobbyists since 2011, averaging about $585,000 per year, Stelter said.

The premier said Madan’s salary was determined through negotiations.

“If you have someone who is a proven executive… who is still making about $23,000 less than an unproven trade negotiator who has been a journalist for the better part of the last 20 years, that raises serious red flags,” Khan said, adding Ontario’s trade with the U.S. is significantly larger.

Madan worked as a CBC TV reporter in Winnipeg from 2000 to 2004, reported on politics for CityTV in Toronto from 2004 to 2010, and worked for CTV as a parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa from 2010 until 2016, when he moved to its bureau in Washington. He was let go by CTV in 2023 as part of major layoffs at the network. CBC hired him as one of its Washington correspondents later that year.

Barry Prentice, director of the University of Manitoba’s Transport Institute, said a Manitoba representative might have an easier time negotiating new trade deals if they were situated in Mexico, rather than Washington.

“When you have a place like Washington — filled with so many lobbyists and those that have money to dish out to people with favours — what do we expect to see from our guy there?” he said.

“I can’t justify the salary… but some people might argue the opposite, that — if he could just prevent one thing from happening, you know, keep the hog market open for us in Manitoba — that he’s worth every penny.”

— With files from Maggie Macintosh and Carol Sanders

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca