ManitobaManitoba’s former premier Heather Stefanson has paid a $18,000 fine levied against her for violating conflict of interest laws.PC MLA Wharton also paid up ahead of deadline; status of payment of former PC Minister Cullen unknownBryce Hoye · CBC News · Posted: Oct 27, 2025 3:29 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 1 minuteHeather Stefanson, former Manitoba premier, and current PC MLA Jeff Wharton, have paid outstanding fines they were facing for violating conflict of interest laws. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)Manitoba’s former premier Heather Stefanson has paid an $18,000 fine levied against her for violating conflict of interest laws.Stefanson paid Oct. 20 and PC MLA Jeff Wharton (Red River North) paid his $10,000 fine Oct. 27, according to a letter read out in question period Monday by Speaker of the House Tom Lindsey.MLAs from across the aisle voted to fine those two, as well as former PC cabinet minister Cliff Cullen, on Oct. 7. All had 30 days to pay up. The status of Cullen’s $12,000 fine payment wasn’t disclosed during question period Monday.The vote earlier this month came after Manitoba’s ethics commissioner released a report in May suggesting Stefanson, then-deputy premier Cullen and then economic development minister Wharton acted inappropriately by attempting to push through approval of a silica sand mine project after the PCs lost to the NDP in the October 2023 provincial election.ABOUT THE AUTHORBryce Hoye is a multi-platform journalist with a background in wildlife biology. He has worked for CBC Manitoba for over a decade with stints producing at CBC’s Quirks & Quarks and Front Burner. He was a 2024-25 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. He is also Prairie rep for outCBC. He has won a national Radio Television Digital News Association award for a 2017 feature on the history of the fur trade, and a 2023 Prairie region award for an audio documentary about a Chinese-Canadian father passing down his love for hockey to the next generation of Asian Canadians.Selected storiesEmail: bryce.hoye@cbc.caFacebookMore by Bryce Hoye
Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson pays fine for violating conflict of interest law
