Manitoba premier accused of breaking conflict of interest laws by taking Bombers charters to Grey Cup
Premier Wab Kinew took plane chartered by Winnipeg Blue Bombers to Grey Cup in 2023 and 2024
Manitoba's premier is being accused by a democracy advocate of breaking provincial conflict of interest laws when he took a plane chartered by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the Grey Cup in 2023 and 2024.
The same trips were also offered to Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, who declined and chose to fly commercial, a spokesperson said.
Under the province's Conflict of Interest Act, "travel on a non-commercial chartered or private aircraft" must be approved by the ethics commissioner.
There is no public disclosure record indicating that happened for either trip.
A spokesperson for Wab Kinew said the premier went "above and beyond all requirements" by paying the Bombers $8,000 out of pocket for the trip to Hamilton in 2023.
That doesn't satisfy a democracy watchdog, who argues it doesn't matter if Kinew paid for the flight — taking the charter plane gave him access to an exclusive perk not available to the general public.
"Not everyone has access to that plane, and so accepting the seat on the plane for himself and others is what causes the conflict," Duff Conacher, the co-founder of Democracy Watch, said in an early March interview with CBC.
Kinew took his wife and child, along with a special assistant, to watch the Bombers lose to the Montreal Alouettes in Hamilton on Nov. 19, 2023.
The expenses related to the 2023 game were released under freedom of information laws, following a September 2024 request by CBC for the premier and staff's expenses from October 2023 onward.
Although the records are supposed to be provided within 45 days under access to information legislation, it took more than 170 days — and a warning from the provincial ombudsman that the government was not in compliance with the legislation — before the government disclosed the documents.
That was followed by weeks of staffers providing inaccurate and contradictory information regarding the premier's expenses, arguing the story wasn't worth reporting.
'Not a story': chief of staff
A receipt included in the records shows the premier's assistant expensed over $1,400 to stay in Hamilton for three nights the weekend of the Grey Cup.
Transportation to and from the destination was provided by the Winnipeg Football Club, the released records say.
"The premier personally paid his expenses above and beyond all requirements," wrote spokesperson Ryan Stelter in a March 5 email, telling CBC News the payment was made Dec. 12, 2023.
The premier declined to do an interview and his spokesperson did not provide an invoice for the payment to the Bombers.
A spokesperson for the Bombers said the charter is organized for fans, sponsors and families. He said the premier "personally paid fair market value for the trip, even though we believed it wasn't necessary."
When asked if the premier informally consulted with Jeffrey Schnoor, Manitoba's ethics commissioner, before boarding the plane, the premier's office did not provide an answer.
His office insists no public dollars were spent on the trip and did not provide an answer to why Kinew's online disclosures for November 2023 indicated he expensed his hotel for the Grey Cup.
That disclosure was available online as of last week, but appeared to have been removed by Friday evening. The premier's expenses, including the Grey Cup trip, were first posted online in October 2024.
In his March 5 email, the premier's spokesperson initially told CBC the government paid for Kinew's assistant's flight. In a subsequent email on March 11, the spokesperson retracted that statement and said the premier paid for it.
He also initially said the Kinew paid for his own hotel, but later said the government paid for it.
On March 18, just before CBC was set to publish the story, the premier's chief of staff contacted CBC, saying there was new information to share.
That came after waiting three weeks for a clear answer about the trip. The premier's chief of staff told CBC the premier paid for both hotels and insisted the trip was "not a story" in an email, but did not provide new information.
'Something going on': interim PC leader
Manitoba's Conflict of Interest Act, which came into effect in October 2023, specifically states MLAs "must not accept travel on a non-commercial chartered or private aircraft."
"Accepting a trip on a private aircraft is prohibited, and that's because it's a favour," said Conacher, whose organization advocates for more government accountability and transparency.
He says the premier should apologize for taking the flight.
"These are very important rules," Conacher said. "The conflict of interest law is the key safeguard, beyond the Criminal Code provisions that prohibit bribery."
Kinew also flew the charter to the Grey Cup in Vancouver with his family in 2024, when the Bombers lost to the Toronto Argonauts. For that trip, he did not expense his accommodations.
Wayne Ewasko, the interim leader of the Opposition Progressive Conservatives, wonders why the premier didn't provide any proof or documentation showing how much he paid, and when.
"That tells me that there's more to this story, and there's something going on. He's hiding something. I hate to say that, but to me, the inconsistencies don't seem to be adding up," Ewasko said.
"The premier wants to be accountable and transparent to Manitobans. Well, here's a great time to show what's what."
Ewasko also said it's concerning that it took so long to release these records.
"I don't think you or I or any taxpayer is necessarily questioning the fact that he went to the Grey Cup in 2023 to cheer on the Bombers," he said.
"But why did he have to take you to go to the ombudsman to get the document released? Why did it take 170 days?
"There has to be more to it."
Only an MLA can ask the commissioner to investigate whether someone has contravened the Conflict of Interest Act.
After learning about the trips from CBC, Ewasko said the PCs will likely ask the commissioner to investigate.
$180K on out-of-province travel
Before approving private air travel, the legislation states the ethics commissioner takes into consideration whether there are alternative methods of travel available and if the request to fly privately creates a perceived conflict of interest.
If the travel is required for the performance of the MLA's office, they must disclose the details to the ethics commissioner within 30 days after the trip, and must explain why it was necessary to use a non-commercial flight.
The Winnipeg Football Club — the non-profit corporation that operates the Bombers — received $240,000 from the province's Sport, Culture and Heritage department in 2023-24, according to the public accounts.
Triple B Stadium Inc. — the non-share corporation controlled by the Winnipeg Football Club — received over $600,000 from the Economic Development department that same year.
The province also created a $10-million capital fund in 2021 to help pay for repairs to what is now known as Princess Auto Stadium, where the Bombers play.
The football team is a "stakeholder like any other," said Conacher.
"And politicians should not be accepting any kind of gifts that are indirectly or directly connected to their duties of overseeing any stakeholder."
The ethics commissioner publicly posts all disclosed private air travel on his website. As of this week, three NDP MLAs had made disclosures for private air travel since the legislation came into place.
St. Vital MLA Jamie Moses made two disclosures — one for travel to Snow Lake on a plane provided by Hudbay Minerals and another for a provincial helicopter tour of Lac du Bonnet with local officials. Tracy Schmidt (Rossmere) and Glen Simard (Brandon East) both took an Oceans North charter to tour the Seal River watershed in northern Manitoba.
The records also show that from November 2023 to July 2024, the premier took nine trips out of the province. Between his flight and accommodations, along with expenses for accompanying staff and bureaucrats, over $180,000 was expensed to taxpayers.
Staff are paid a daily per diem for food when they travel.
WATCH | Premier accused of breaking conflict of interest laws:
In March, the premier addressed the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto and attended a convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada. He took six political staff on the three-day trip and expensed almost $9,000.
A five-day trade mission to Washington and New York City last April involved five political staff and cost over $64,000. In total, 16 people from the government went on that trip, including the clerk of the executive council, two ministers and members of the Intergovernmental Affairs department.
In a prepared statement, the premier's spokesperson said the government is "proud of the work we do each and every day in advancing Manitoba's interests inside and outside of province."
But Ewasko questions the number of staff the premier took with him on those trips. Former PC premiers Heather Stefanson and Brian Pallister usually only took one or two staff members on out-of-town trips, he said.
He said he only took a deputy minister along when he went to a G7 meeting in Japan in 2023 as a cabinet minister.
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