{"id":92680,"date":"2025-05-22T08:26:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=92680"},"modified":"2025-05-22T08:26:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:26:33","slug":"manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/22\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Manitoba ethics commissioner faults former premier for pushing mining project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Steve Lambert Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson and two of her Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers violated the province&#8217;s conflict-of-interest law and should be fined, the province&#8217;s ethics commissioner ruled Wednesday. In a 100-page report, ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said Stefanson, then-deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then-economic development minister Jeff Wharton acted improperly by pushing for the approval of a silica sand mining project after the Tories lost the Oct. 3, 2023, election to the NDP. Despite the election loss, the three Tories tried to get the Sio Silica project approved before the new NDP government, led by Wab Kinew, was to be sworn in, Schnoor wrote. Their actions violated the Conflict of Interest Act and contravened the caretaker convention \u2014 a long-standing parliamentary principle that forbids outgoing governments from&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F05%2F22%2Fmanitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Steve Lambert Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson and two of her Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers violated the province&#8217;s conflict-of-interest law and should be fined, the province&#8217;s ethics commissioner ruled Wednesday. In a 100-page report, ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said Stefanson, then-deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then-economic development minister Jeff Wharton acted improperly by pushing for the approval of a silica sand mining project after the Tories lost the Oct. 3, 2023, election to the NDP. Despite the election loss, the three Tories tried to get the Sio Silica project approved before the new NDP government, led by Wab Kinew, was to be sworn in, Schnoor wrote. Their actions violated the Conflict of Interest Act and contravened the caretaker convention \u2014 a long-standing parliamentary principle that forbids outgoing governments from... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F05%2F22%2Fmanitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Manitoba ethics commissioner faults former premier for pushing mining project - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/22\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manitoba ethics commissioner faults former premier for pushing mining project - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Steve Lambert Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson and two of her Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers violated the province&#8217;s conflict-of-interest law and should be fined, the province&#8217;s ethics commissioner ruled Wednesday. In a 100-page report, ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said Stefanson, then-deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then-economic development minister Jeff Wharton acted improperly by pushing for the approval of a silica sand mining project after the Tories lost the Oct. 3, 2023, election to the NDP. Despite the election loss, the three Tories tried to get the Sio Silica project approved before the new NDP government, led by Wab Kinew, was to be sworn in, Schnoor wrote. Their actions violated the Conflict of Interest Act and contravened the caretaker convention \u2014 a long-standing parliamentary principle that forbids outgoing governments from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/22\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-22T12:26:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/22\\\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/22\\\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Manitoba ethics commissioner faults former premier for pushing mining project\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-22T12:26:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/22\\\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":792,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/22\\\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/22\\\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/22\\\/manitoba-ethics-commissioner-faults-former-premier-for-pushing-mining-project\\\/\",\"name\":\"Manitoba ethics commissioner faults former premier for pushing mining project - 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In a 100-page report, ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said Stefanson, then-deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then-economic development minister Jeff Wharton acted improperly by pushing for the approval of a silica sand mining project after the Tories lost the Oct. 3, 2023, election to the NDP. Despite the election loss, the three Tories tried to get the Sio Silica project approved before the new NDP government, led by Wab Kinew, was to be sworn in, Schnoor wrote. 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