WINNIPEG - Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson and two of her Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers acted improperly by pushing for the approval of a silica sand mining project and should be fined, says a report by the province's ethics commissioner.
The report says Stefanson, then-deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then-economic development minister Jeff Wharton tried to get approval for the Sio Silica project after the Tories lost the 2023 election, but before the new NDP government was to be sworn in.
Ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor ruled their actions violated the Conflict of Interest Act and contravened a long-standing parliamentary principle that forbids outgoing governments from making major decisions in most cases.
"The commissioner found no evidence that Ms. Stefanson, Mr. Cullen or Mr. Wharton or their family received a financial benefit from this conduct," the report said.
"However, the act requires that members not act in their official capacity in a way that would improperly further the private interests of another person."
Schnoor is recommending fines of $18,000 for Stefanson, $12,000 for Cullen and $10,000 for Wharton. The legislative assembly gets to make the final decision.
Stefanson, in a written statement from her lawyer, said she talked with the incoming NDP government about the project.
"I had no obligation to do so but reached out to the incoming government and fully considered their views before deciding on what to do. No license was issued to the applicant by my government," the statement read.
"None of the decisions I took in the period before the new NDP government was sworn in were made for any purpose other than to further and protect the public interest. In summary, I was Premier, I did my job, and when the people elected a new government, I deferred to the NDP government and respected their views on how to proceed."
The mining project would have created thousands of wells over 24 years across a large swath of southeastern Manitoba, although only an initial phase was being considered for approval.
The NDP government rejected the project in February 2024, citing the potential impact on drinking water among other concerns.
The issue first came to light after Rochell Squires and Kevin Klein, two other former Tory cabinet ministers, said they were called by Wharton after the 2023 election and pressured to get the project approved.
Wharton denied the accusation in December 2023 and said he was simply gathering information about the mining project to pass on to the incoming government.
This report by ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø was first published May 21, 2025.
