Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has apologized for failing to disclose his Grey Cup flights on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ charter plane with the ethics commissioner.
On Monday, the CBC reported that political watchdog Duff Conacher had accused Kinew of violating conflict of interest laws by joining the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on their charter plane for Grey Cup trips in 2023 and 2024.
All travel on non-commercial chartered or private planes must be approved by the ethics commissioner and Kinew made no public disclosure record for either trip.
“When I get tickets to a Jets game and I pay my own way, I don’t have to disclose those, so I figured paying my own way to the Grey Cup that I wouldn’t have to disclose,” Kinew told the CBC on Monday. “But I talked to the ethics commissioner this morning, and he said I should, so I did.”
A spokesperson for the premier indicated that Kinew, who was accompanied by his wife, child, and an assistant, paid the team $8,000 out of pocket for the trip in 2023. A Blue Bombers spokesperson confirmed the payment and said the team didn’t believe reimbursement was necessary as the plane was intended for fans, sponsors, and families.
It was also reported that Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham was offered the same trips by the team, though he declined, choosing instead to fly commercial.
Conacher, a co-founder of Democracy Watch, contended that the trip violated the Conflict of Interest Act, which came into effect in 2023, even if Kinew reimbursed the team, as the public had no access to the airplane.
The Blue Bombers lost both Grey Cups, dropping a 28-24 decision to the Montreal Alouettes at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton in 2023, and losing 41-24 to the Toronto Argonauts at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver in 2024.
Kinew was elected premier in 2023 after the New Democratic Party won 34 of 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
The ethics commissioner can issue a penalty to Kinew if he concludes that the law was broken.
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