09/08/2024 

Treaty 1 and Dakota Territory, Homeland of the Red River Metis, Winnipeg MB - Documents show PC Caucus Chair Greg Nesbitt repeatedly committed the same violation he complained to the Ethics Commissioner about two months ago. 

Publicly available documents show MLA Nesbitt is an officer and shareholder of Russell Inns Ltd., a hotel and conference centre in Russell, MB. Nesbitt's company has a contract with the Government of Manitoba that began in December 2023 valued at $50k a year. 

Section 10(2) of the Conflict of Interest (Members and Ministers) and Related Amendments Act states that "A member must not have an interest in a partnership or private corporation that is a party (directly or through a subcontract) to a contract with the government or a government agency under which the partnership or corporation receives a benefit." This means that MLA Nesbitt is in violation of the Act through Russell Inns Ltd.'s contract with the Province, and that he is required to disclose it. 

MLA Nesbitt has submitted five disclosure statements to the Ethics Commissioner's office since the creation of the contract, and specifically denied that Russell Inns Ltd. has a contract with the Province each and every time. A record of the contract can be viewed here, and Nesbitt's most recent disclosure statement can be viewed here. The remaining four disclosure statements can be viewed on the Ethics Manitoba website.

MLA Nesbitt's failure to disclose the contract is especially notable because he complained about the exact same type of disclosure issue earlier this year. At the time, he stated in the house that "[t]he minister knows the rules because the Ethics Commissioner is incredibly thorough in educating members" and that "[t]here is no explaining this away. There is no dancing around the issue." 

"What's clear today is that the members opposite are hypocrites," said NDP Caucus Chair Mike Moyes. "We leave it to the Ethics Commissioner to determine the path ahead, but you don't need to be an expert to see that the PCs have no credibility when it comes to this issue. Manitobans expect better than the cheap political stunts the PCs have been pulling. MLA Nesbitt should disclose his contract, declare his conflict of interest immediately, and apologize to the people of Manitoba for his hypocrisy."