Former PC minister decries 'unconscionable' attempt to OK silica mining deal after losing Manitoba election

Another former Progressive Conservative cabinet member is alleging the former provincial government tried to ram throughapproval of an Alberta mining company's proposal to drill for sand in southeastern Manitoba days after it lost the Oct. 3 provincial election.

Rochelle Squires, who lost her seat in south Winnipeg's Riel constituency when the provincial NDP formed a majority government, called her former party's attempt to push through the approval after losing the election "unconventional and unconscionable" in an interview on Thursday.

Squires's comments come a day after CBC News reported both Premier Wab Kinew and former PC cabinet minister and environment minister Kevin Klein alleged the former government tried to approve the proposal in breach of the caretaker convention, where outgoing governments are supposed to only engage in urgent, routine, reversible or uncontroversial operations during the brief period before the next government is sworn in.

While the NDP won Manitoba's provincial election, the PCs continued to govern until Oct. 18, when Kinew was sworn in as premier.

But Jeff Wharton, a former PC cabinet minister and current MLA insistshis government respected the caretaker convention and merely briefed the NDP transition team about the status of the file regarding Alberta-based Sio Silica.

The company has proposed drilling as many as 7,200 wells in southeastern Manitoba over the next 24 years in an effort to extract up to 33 million tonnes of ultra-pure silica sand.

Squires said Wharton's claim isnot true, alleging she got a call from him on Oct. 12 on her way out to a dinner with her campaign team.

She said Whartonasked her, in her capacity as an acting environment minister, to provide approval for the project via a ministerial directive.

"It just took awhile for me to understand and comprehend why I'm being asked this and why we would even do that. It just didn't make any sense," she said.

"I knew I wasn't going to offer an approval. We were in a caretaker convention mode. We had lost the election. The future of that sand mine rightfully belongs with the incoming government."

Former premier denies conflict

Squires said Wharton's assertions that he did not ask Klein to approve the proposal and that no member of his government tried to approve the project during the transition period prompted her to write a column in the Winnipeg Free Press on Thursday "to put my side of the story, my information, out there."

Squires wrote in the column that Wharton told her the Sio Silica project was "of significant importance" to defeated premier Heather Stefanson, "but because of a conflict, she herself couldn't offer that directive."

But spokesperson Matt Preprost disputed thatalleged claim, saying in an emailed statement that Stefanson "has no conflict of interest with Sio Silica."

"The former premier respected due process in the transition phase and no license was granted," Preprost said.

Squires said on Thursday she was "not aware of anything beyond" what she said in her newspapercolumn about the exact details of any conflict with Stefanson who is still the MLA forWinnipeg's Tuxedo riding and that "those are dots that others will have to connect."

In an emailed statement also provided to CBCon Thursday by Preprost, Wharton reiterated that no licensing decision was granted by the PCs on the project during thetransition of power and it's up to the new NDP government to make one.

"As former economic development minister I had a mandate to work with my colleagues across government to land sound business opportunities in Manitoba," Wharton said.

"Sio Silica has undergone extensive environmental review and consultations since 2020 ... Investors are eager to bring critical minerals and manufacturing projects to Manitoba. But they won't sit on the sidelines forever waiting for the new government to make decisions," said Wharton.

Records of conflict disclosure to be posted online

Jeffrey Schnoor, ethics commissioner for the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, said up until the day of the province's last election, disclosure statements by MLAs and records of disclosures of conflict of interest declared at meetings that are not a meeting of cabinet were filed with the office of the clerk of the legislative assembly.

New legislation that came into effect the day after the last election means members now have to file disclosure statements with Schnoor's office within 90 days of assuming office. Those statements, as well as records of disclosures of conflicts, will all now be posted online, he said in an email on Thursday.

Schnoor said MLAs can ask him to investigate alleged breaches of that legislation, but he himself has no power to start an investigation. Any request made then has to be tabled in the assembly within the first five sitting days after the request is made, he said.

Pushing through approval would be 'egregious': expert

Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said the Sio Silica decision is "precisely the type of major, consequential, highly contentious, longer-term decision which should not have been considered" during the transition period.

"Such an action would represent the far end of a continuum of inappropriate behaviour," Thomas said in an email.

"Given the private investment involved and opposition from parts of the affected communities, daring/forcing a new NDP government to reverse such a decision would have been highly irresponsible."

Thomas said the fact that the Clean Environment Commission, Manitoba's environmental regulator, had already recommended in June against any immediate decision about the project until more is known about the effects of removing that much sand from the Winnipeg sandstone aquifer a source of drinking water for thousands "made a decision to proceed even more egregious."

Squires declined to say whether she wants to see Wharton, the MLA for Manitoba's Red River North constituency, resign from his position over the situation.

"I'm not a colleague of his right now. That is a question other people will need to answer," she said.

She said while she hasn't spoken to any of her former colleagues about the matter, she knows what she'd say if she did.

"When we take an oath, when we get into politics, it is to represent our constituencies and to follow our conscience to the best of our ability," Squires said.

"We have to manoeuvre through a lot of decisions and a lot of differing opinions, and it's incumbent on everyone to act with integrity and dignity and do that even in difficult circumstances.

"And I certainly do aspire to do that myself and hope that anybody who's an elected official would have that same aspiration."

Watch:

"The future of that sand mine rightfully belongs with the incoming government.": Former PC minister Rochelle Squires

9 months ago

Duration 2:28

Rochelle Squires, who lost her seat in south Winnipeg's Riel constituency, says her former PC party tried to push through an approval for an Alberta mining company's proposal to drill for sand in southeastern Manitoba.