Manitoba premier accused of breaking conflict of interest laws by taking Bombers charters to Grey Cup

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.

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.