ManitobaThe Manitoba government denies it failed to renew the contract of a consultant working on a software project for the province because of a whistleblower complaint he filed.Manitoba files defence statement in lawsuit by IT consultant David MorashVera-Lynn Kubinec · CBC News · Posted: Oct 08, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoThe Manitoba government denies it owes damages to a consultant who worked on an IT project. (Graeme Roy/Canadian Press)The Manitoba government denies it failed to renew the contract of a consultant working on a software project for the province because of a whistleblower complaint he filed — or even that the province had an agreement with him.In a lawsuit filed in July, David Morash claimed the province breached his contract and violated the Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act by failing to renew his contract after he filed a disclosure to the Manitoba ombudsman.Morash was working on an IT project for the province and in his lawsuit, he claims his contract wasn’t renewed because in a whistleblower complaint to the ombudsman in August 2024, he “alleged wrongdoing” and that the project was being “grossly mismanaged” by the province.The Manitoba government filed a statement of defence Sept. 26 at Court of King’s Bench, denying it breached any law or any contract relative to the lawsuit.The court document says the province did not have an agreement with Morash or his numbered company but had an information technology resource agreement with a different company, which was responsible for payments to Morash. Consultant who notified Manitoba ombudsman about ‘grossly mismanaged’ IT project sues province In response to Morash’s allegations of wrongdoing at the provincial government department, the defence statement says the province neither admits nor denies those allegations, and the whistleblower protection law (the Public Interest Disclosure Act) prohibits disclosing such information in a civil proceeding.The province’s defence statement says Morash is not entitled to monetary damages sought in his lawsuit.The allegations have not been tested in court. CBC contacted the plaintiff’s lawyer about the defence statement, but he declined to comment.A spokesperson for the province also declined to comment while the case is before the court.Morash’s lawsuit claims the province ultimately benefited from his disclosure to the ombudsman, because it led to changes in the IT project, such as restructuring of personnel.ABOUT THE AUTHORVera-Lynn Kubinec is a producer with CBC Manitoba’s I-Team investigative unit, based in Winnipeg. vera-lynn.kubinec@cbc.ca
Province denies it even had a contract with IT consultant suing for damages after whistleblower complaint
