Former Manitoba cabinet minister accused by colleagues of trying to rush mine project
BNN Bloomberg
Infighting has erupted among Manitoba Progressive Conservatives with two former Tory cabinet ministers accusing a third of trying to push through approval of a large mining project after the party lost the Oct. 3 election.
Kevin Klein, who was environment minister, and Rochelle Squires, who was families minister as well as acting environment minister, say they were called by Jeff Wharton, who was economic development minister, with an unusual request.
The date was Oct. 12 — nine days after the Tories lost the election but six days before the new NDP government was to be sworn in. Klein and Squires say Wharton, in separate phone calls, asked them to rush approval of the proposed Sio Silica mine project, which would create thousands of wells over 24 years across a large swath of southeastern Manitoba.
Wharton denies the accusation, and says he was simply calling to help collect information across various departments to pass on to the incoming government.
