NDP complaint claims Conservatives got inside info

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This article was published 13/09/2022 (791 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Manitoba New Democratic Party has filed a complaint to the elections commissioner alleging the Progressive Conservative party received insider information from the government on the timing of the upcoming Kirkfield Park byelection.

A formal letter was sent to elections commissioner Bill Bowles Friday.

At the centre of the complaint is a decision by the Tories to delay the party’s annual general meeting to April to avoid conflict with the byelection, which was made necessary when cabinet minister Scott Fielding quit as MLA in June.

In statements to the media, Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba president Brent Pooles said the meeting — which was supposed to happen within 24 months of the Nov. 20, 2021 annual general meeting, according to the party’s constitution — would be postponed “to ensure that there is no interference with the byelection efforts.”

NDP house leader Nahanni Fontaine said it’s evidence Pooles had inside information.

“The concern is that the premier is giving her PC party an unfair advantage by providing this insider information about the timing of a byelection call for Kirkfield (Park).”

The provincial government has not set a date for the byelection nor has there been public communication from the government about when the byelection will be held, the NDP stated in its complaint. A byelection must be held by Dec. 13 under Manitoba election laws.

“Specifically, the government has not confirmed the byelection will be in November as opposed to September,” the NDP stated.

Access to privileged information about the date of a byelection could give parties unfair advantage by allowing them to save money and resources by postponing events, and by giving them more time to raise money and sell memberships, the complaint stated.

The financial benefit of such information amounts to a profited contribution, the party argued, and breaches the Elections Financing Act.

Fontaine said she is not convinced the postponement of the annual general meeting was done to avoid a drain on resources in anticipation of the writ eventually being dropped. The Tories could have pulled off both an AGM and a campaign in Kirkfield Park, she argued.

“Scott Fielding resigned back in June… so they’ve had plenty of time, if they wanted, to hold their AGM earlier,” Fontaine said. “It’s very specific to November… I just don’t buy it. It was too specific.”

“We’ll contest this election whenever it’s called,” she said. “But certainly it should be a fair process. That’s what voters demand from us.”

The Progressive Conservatives had not nominated a candidate to run in Kirkfield Park as of Tuesday. Logan Oxenham is the NDP candidate.

The elections commissioner said he was unable to comment on complaints or about the progress of investigations.

The Tories didn’t respond to a request for comment.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca