WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger tried to sound the final buzzer Friday on a lingering scandal over members of his NDP government accepting free tickets to sold out Winnipeg Jets games.
“Clearly we didn’t get it right here and I accept responsibility for that,” Selinger told a news conference in Winnipeg Friday as he revealed a total of 13 NDP MLAs and ministers had received a total of 33 free Jets tickets from either Crown Corporations or private businesses.
Selinger says any government members who received free tickets have been told they must repay the donors or make a charitable donation for the value of the ticket. And some ministers who didn’t tell the whole truth about what tickets they received and where they came from, during days of questioning by media and opposition critics, will apologize.
Finance Minister Stan Struthers – who just Thursday released his government’s hastily drafted ticket policy to respond to the controversy, is one of the ministers who may have to issue a mea culpa. Struthers received free tickets from Red River College and the Homebuilders Association, but made statements suggesting he had only ever attended Jets games on his own dime.
Justice Minister Andrew Swan, who fled the legislature Friday rather than talk to a Global News reporter, had the most free Jets tickets: a total of eight, from Manitoba Public Insurance, Red River College, the Homebuilders, and Canad Inns.
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The controversy began earlier this week when it was revealed taxpayer-funded Crown Corporations had entered into large advertising contracts with the Winnipeg Jets, and got thousands of game tickets in return. Most of them were used by executives and some were given to cabinet ministers.
But the scandal grew when Global News reported that several ministers had also accepted tickets from businesses or organizations the government funds or regulates – a potential conflict of interest.
Earlier Friday, Selinger said he expects Innovation, Energy and Mines Minister Dave Chomiak to “do the right thing” and reimburse Tundra Oil and Gas for tickets given to Chomiak for a game at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre Feb. 14, 2012.
As energy minister, Chomiak governs the petroleum industry in the province. He only filed the required disclosure of the gift Thursday, and told Global News there was nothing wrong with accepting the gift and that he had no plans to pay it back.
“It’s doing business, you can’t not do business with companies that are in Manitoba, it has to do with jobs, job creation, there’s several thousand people working in the oil field in Manitoba. I think it’s appropriate to meet with these companies,” Chomiak told Global News in a telephone interview Thursday.
But Chomiak and most of his cabinet colleagues who also accepted Jets tickets from businesses were nowhere to be found Friday, after the premier put his foot down on the issue.
“We expect (Chomiak) to do the right thing, and I know that he will because he’s that kind of guy,” Selinger said when asked if Chomiak should pay Tundra back for the ticket. The premier also commented on how long it took Chomiak to file the required disclosure of a gift more than $250.
“It’s part of the learning curve and people have to learn to be more on the ball about these things,” Selinger said.
Advanced Education and Literacy Minister Erin Selby got one ticket from the president of Red River College for a Jets game in October. An RRC spokesperson says Selby paid the college back for the ticket “within the last several days.”
Tourism Minister Flor Marcelino went to a game courtesy of hotel chain Canad Inns.
And the minister responsible for seniors, Jim Rondeau, was treated to a Jets game by the Sturgeon Creek Retirement Home. Rondeau is also responsible for Manitoba’s Liquor Commission, and got free Jets tickets from a brewer.
University of Manitoba ethics expert Arthur Schafer says such gifts can put the ministers in a conflict of interest.
“Even small gifts create the desire on the part of the recipient to reciprocate. You do something nice for me, and I want to do something in return,” he says.
The opposition Progressive Conservatives have criticized the NDP for accepting tickets from taxpayer-funded Crown Corporations, but haven’t made an issue of ministers taking free tickets from businesses they may be responsible for regulating. A PC party spokesperson did not provide an answer when Global News asked if any PC MLAs had accepted free Jets tickets from businesses.
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