Construction group broke Manitoba law: commissioner

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This article was published 22/04/2021 (1246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A construction company lobby group has been found to have breached Manitoba’s Election Financing Act.

Elections commissioner Bill Bowles ruled the Merit Contractors Association of Manitoba contravened the act when it spent more than $17,000 on advertising during the 2019 provincial election period without registering with Elections Manitoba.

The association’s ads promoted legislation promised by the Progressive Conservative party that would allow non-union construction companies to bid and work on public projects.

Bowles investigated the matter after receiving a complaint from the Manitoba Building Trades.

In a four-page letter to the two parties, the commissioner rejected Merit’s argument that its advertising did not come under the purview of the act because no political party or candidate was named.

“I note that a number of Merit’s advertisements did contain direct references to the Progressive Conservative party. Several of Merit’s advertisements and other communications point out that the PC government had introduced Bill 4, which would allow non-union contractors to bid on government projects,” Bowles said in the letter, dated April 20.

Bill 4 was among several government bills that died when Premier Brian Pallister called the Sept. 10, 2019, election. Last October, the PC government reintroduced the legislation. Bill 13, The Public Sector Construction Projects (Tendering) Act, has passed second reading in the legislature and undergone public hearings.

While he ruled that Merit violated the rules, Bowles said he didn’t believe it did so intentionally.

“I have no reason to think Merit intended to breach the (law) and I accept that the breach was based on a good-faith interpretation of the relevant law,” he wrote. “In my opinion, it would not be in the public interest for me to pursue this further.”

Under the law, the commissioner of elections cannot levy fines, but it can initiate a prosecution. It would be up to a judge to impose a penalty.

Bowles noted in his ruling that the association’s total advertising did not exceed the act’s $25,000 limit for third-party organizations. Had the group registered with Elections Manitoba, it would have been permitted to run its ads, he wrote.

The Merit association represents about 200 “open shop” contractors — workplaces where membership in a union is not required.

Merit’s president, Yvette Milner, said Thursday the group did not think it was breaking the law when it failed to register with Elections Manitoba.

She said the organization’s board reviewed the legislation before purchasing ads.

“We acted in good faith. Now that we know we were offside, we obviously won’t do it again and have retroactively complied (by registering with Elections Manitoba after the fact),” she said.

Sudhir Sandhu, chief executive officer of the Manitoba Building Trades, said he would have liked to have seen more consequences for Merit than a slap on the wrist. He said a fine would have been more appropriate.

“It was a very clear finding. It was an unequivocal finding,” Sandhu said.

He said Bowles could have used the ruling to demonstrate that the law should be taken seriously and when you flout it there will be consequences, but he didn’t.

Sandhu said the process doesn’t even involve a public disclosure that a group has violated the law.

The Building Trades CEO expressed frustration that “a very rich organization” can spend a lot of money on advertising, “claim ignorance (of the law) after the fact… and just walk away from it scot-free at the end of the day.”

The commissioner of elections does not comment publicly on his rulings.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca