One of the 50 liquor store permits issued by the Saskatchewan government on Wednesday has been cancelled.
Jeremy Harrison, the minister responsible for Saskatchewan liquor and gaming authority (SLGA), stated the permit issued to Carrot River Inn was cancelled when he became aware that Fred Bradshaw, the MLA for Carrot River Valley, was a shareholder in the company.
“Yesterday afternoon, I learned that MLA Fred Bradshaw holds a small ownership stake in the Carrot River Inn, which was the successful proponent for the Carrot River retail liquor store permit,” Harrison said in a statement.
“It is not appropriate for an MLA to be involved in an ownership position of any of the new retail stores.”
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Bradshaw said he did not tell Harrison he owned 1.4 per cent of the company during the proposal process, however stated he is not involved in any decision making.
“As a shareholder, I am not involved in the management or operations of the business and was not involved in any way in preparing the proposal for the retail store permit,” Bradshaw said in a statement.
“Nor was I involved in any of the decision-making in awarding this permit.”
Bradshaw added that it was an oversight on his part not to let Harrison know, but “that’s not an excuse.”
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Harrison said he is directing SLGA to issued a new request for proposal for the Carrot River location.