Kinew calls for soil report probe

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This article was published 23/08/2018 (2744 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew is calling for a formal investigation into Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires’ handling of the St. Boniface soil contamination report.

Kinew requested the investigation in a letter to the Manitoba ombudsman’s office. In it, the NDP leader puts forward the case for why an outside set of eyes is needed on the handling of the file and to determine what advice Squires was given from civil servants and Crown counsel.

“There was concealment. There was lying that took place about this. At the end of the day, there are people in St. Boniface who should have been notified much earlier than they were,” Kinew said Wednesday.

Squires’ press secretary did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

On Monday, the Free Press revealed that for at least six weeks, the provincial government withheld information that soil in south St. Boniface was contaminated with heavy metals, then misinformed media about when the results came in and why residents were kept in the dark.

Documents obtained through freedom of information requests show Squires, and department employees, knew about the soil contamination much earlier than she’d repeatedly told media.

Squires now says she was informed about the contamination June 21. She claims two civil servants in her department, who wrote an advisory note on the contamination June 4, kept her in the dark for weeks. Affected residents weren’t notified until July 13; the public wasn’t made aware until July 17.

In response to the Free Press report, Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont, who is the MLA for St. Boniface, called for Squires to resign.

‘There are people in St. Boniface who should have been notified much earlier than they were’– Wab Kinew

While under fire from political opponents, Squires released a bombshell report — dated May 2018 — on Tuesday afternoon, alleging decades-old sexual abuse of members of northern communities at the hands of Manitoba Hydro construction crews.

On Wednesday, Kinew again denounced Squires’ timing in releasing that report, saying she was using the pain of northern Indigenous communities as little more than a political ploy.

“Looking at all the obfuscation, all the lies, the concealment, the deceit so far today on this, and then — at the last minute — the late afternoon dump of a report to try to change the channel. It’s clear to me that this minister has to answer a lot more accountability questions before we let her off the hot seat,” the NDP leader said.

Meanwhile, Lamont reiterated he thinks the only way for Squires to address the controversy is to tender her resignation.

“They’ve used what I think are phoney excuses for why they couldn’t release it. There’s too much that’s impossible to explain. Maybe it’s embarrassing to them. They have to face up to the fact they made a very serious error in judgment and she has to take responsibility for it and resign,” the Liberal leader said.

Kinew said legislation governing the ombudsman makes clear the office can review advice given, or decisions recommended, to a minister — so his call for an investigation became fair game after Squires “threw a civil servant under the bus.”

When asked if the results of any such investigation could lead to him joining Lamont in calling for Squires’ resignation, Kinew said he wasn’t ruling it out.

“We have a briefing note on June 4. We have a meeting in person on June 21. We’ve got this mysterious alleged counsel meeting that took place sometime before or after that. We also know there were two cabinet meetings around this time,” Kinew said.

“So, I’m wondering, the minister lying about this, the minister concealing this information, was that her own decision or was she acting on orders from the premier?”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @rk_thorpe