NDP on defensive over $500-K contract for Manitoba’s trade rep in Washington

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This article was published 16/03/2026 (203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The provincial government is defending the nearly half-million-dollar contract it signed with its U.S. trade representative.

Details of Richard Madan’s deal with the province came to light Monday after the CBC reported the former television reporter takes home more than $479,000 per year in consulting fees. When expenses are factored in, Madan’s contract exceeds $529,000, a freedom of information request showed.

The provincial government said in October that Madan, who set up an office on Capitol Hill to promote Manitoba’s interests in the U.S., would take home a salary of $387,000.

“The NDP, clear as day, misled Manitobans,” Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan told reporters. “This is Manitoba taxpayer dollars.”

Madan’s contract includes a consulting fee of US$29,166.67 per month, which adds up to nearly US$350,000. It also includes up to US$25,000 annually for reimbursement of out-of-pocket hospitality and diplomacy expenses, and up to US$1,000 monthly for “reasonable” out-of-pocket expenses, such as insurance.

All told, Madan’s compensation package exceeds $529,000 in Canadian dollars.

Khan also questioned what trade deals the envoy has helped broker.

“Nothing has come in under Richard Madan,” Khan said in the legislature.

The NDP defended the deal.

“Richard Madan has been doing the important work of making the case for thousands of jobs here in Manitoba, protecting our interests,” Finance Minister Adrien Sala said.

“We’re investing in making sure Manitoba’s voice is present in Washington.”

“We’re investing in making sure Manitoba’s voice is present in Washington.”

The finance minister said the previous Tory government cut the D.C. trade office. He didn’t specify which senior leaders Madan has met with. An NDP spokesperson said those conversations are confidential.

Madan declined to comment Monday, directing the Free Press to the provincial government.

“This is an investment in trying to wrangle Donald Trump into the direction of common sense,” Kinew said at an unrelated news conference.

He pointed to the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, which will be reviewed in July. Public consultations on the free trade agreement began last year.

“We know that Donald Trump has already ripped up this deal, and he’s basically antagonized everybody in this country,” Kinew said. “For us, it’s important to have somebody there around the clock, making that case.”

Khan again said Kinew hired his “friend” — both Kinew and Madan are former CBC reporters — while many Manitobans face a cost-of-living crisis.

A spokesperson for the provincial government told the Free Press last year that Kinew and Madan neither worked together directly nor had a personal relationship before the envoy was hired in June of last year.

The $800,000-budget for the office in Washington remains the same, Sala said.

“It definitely seems like a crazy amount of money to taxpayers,” Gage Haubrich, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Prairie director, said of Madan’s contract. “Being paid more than both the premier and the prime minister… is definitely setting off a little bit of alarm bells.”

“Being paid more than both the premier and the prime minister… is definitely setting off a little bit of alarm bells.”

Madan’s salary, without consultant fees, nearly doubles the $188,292 Kinew made in 2025. Prime Minister Mark Carney received $406,000.

Saskatchewan doesn’t have a dedicated trade representative in Washington. It has spent $8.2 million on lobbyists since 2011, averaging about $585,000 per year.

Both Haubrich and Khan called for public results from the trade office.

“I would expect, after nine months or close to a year of him being on the job, that he would report one trade deal or at least a (memorandum of understanding),” Khan said.

The government doesn’t expect Madan to sign trade deals, a spokesperson said. Madan told the Free Press in October he’d been booking, on average, two to three meetings a day.

He liaises with associations and politicians from both Manitoba and the United States.

“It’s not as simple as just walking in and saying, ‘Here’s Manitoba,’” Madan 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.”

Madan created a Manitoba Hill Day to showcase businesses from the province, Sala said.

Later Monday evening, the government said Madan has met with lawmakers from Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Michigan and Iowa.

Madan worked as a journalist at CBC, Citytv and CTV over the past two decades. He spent much of his career in Washington as a correspondent.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com