Ian Bushie violated ethics rules by renewing his grocery store’s contract with government

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Peggy

A Manitoba cabinet minister violated provincial ethics rules when he permitted his grocery store to renew its contract with the provincial government.

Ian Bushie, the minister of municipal and northern relations and Indigenous economic development, contravened the conflict of interest act when his business had its contract renewed with the provincial government, ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor said Thursday in a news release.

Schnoor, however, is recommending Bushie face no penalties.

He said Bushie’s contravention of the act was unintentional. He has both apologized and accepted responsibility for his error, the news release said.

For the most part, MLAs are prohibited from having a contract with government. Contracts in existence at the time of a member’s election are permitted, but renewals and extensions are not. As such, Bushie contravened the act when the contract was renewed on Apr. 1.

Bushie is the sole proprietor of Grandpa George’s, a family-run gas station and convenience store on the Hollow Water First Nation on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.

Only business to bid on contract

The government’s online contract directory lists the company’s most recent contract as being valued at $100,000.

The directory also says the contract was awarded directly — other businesses were not allowed to bid — because Grandpa George’s is the only such operation in the immediate vicinity.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives filed a complaint in June alleging Bushie was unfairly granted a contract without allowing other people to bid on it.

The Tories also allege Bushie failed to reveal the contract in his disclosure statement, which all Manitoba politicians are
required to fill out in order to show their business interests and other holdings.

At the time of the PC’s complaint, Bushie told reporters the contract is to supply groceries and goods for wildfire crews and has been renewed consistently since it was first signed several years ago.

He also said while the contract is listed as worth up to $100,000, the actual amount paid is “very minimal” as it depends on fire activity and how much food and goods are needed in any given year.

“We are the only grocery business in about a 100-kilometre radius, so it is an ongoing agreement that we’ve had for almost a decade,” Bushie said.

His office later said Bushie’s store was paid $1,872 in the fiscal year that ended in March.

Bushie said he did not disclose the contract because he felt he was not required to.