Ethics complaint lodged against Manitoba politician over stock sold in wake of CTV article
An ethics complaint has been made against Mike Moroz, Minister of Innovation and New Technology, related to stock he sold in the wake of a CTV News report about a man who died during a Telus outage.
Konrad Narth, MLA for La Vérendrye, alleged on Tuesday that Moroz used 'insider information available to him as a minister of the crown to sell personal shares in a corporation before a report that reflects negatively on that corporation was made public.'
From March 22 to 24, a Telus outage prevented calls to 911 from going through. On March 23, Dean Switzer, 55, suffered a heart attack in his home outside Fisher Branch, Man.; however, his family and friends were unable to connect to 911 due to the outage. He died later that night.
Two months later, on May 16, Telus filed a three-page final report following an investigation on the outage.
Moroz stated during question period on Tuesday that he sold his shares in Telus on May 8, but added that the information was already public knowledge.
'On April 8, CTV published their story. This is important, because the outage and Telus' responsibility was public information,' he said.
'The next day, my office wrote a letter to Telus expressing outrage over the situation at the way it was handled and urging them to work with the CRTC, which regulates them, and all other levels of government, to provide the answers and assurance that this would not happen again.'
The minister explained he sold his shares in Telus as he wanted to go 'above and beyond the recommendations,' adding that he lost money on the transaction.
'The accusations are baseless,' Moroz said during question period.
'I acted based on publicly available information and media reporting. If the opposition had done their research properly, they also would've made this determination.'
During Tuesday's question period, Opposition Leader Obby Khan said there seems to be a 'direct conflict of interest and violation,' adding that Moroz was privy to insider information regarding a 'damaging' Telus report.
'The questions Manitobans have is something looks fishy here, something looks wrong,' Khan said. 'We ask questions, Manitobans deserve answers.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
34 minutes ago
- CTV News
Affordable housing in Goderich won't be rebuilt after a fire, warming centre opens for displaced residents
An apartment building in Goderich that consisted of 18 affordable housing units will not be rebuilt after a weekend fire. Around 2 a.m. on Saturday, crews responded to the Nelson Street building and evacuated other homes on Brock Street as a precaution. According to Goderich Mayor Trevor Bazinet, the third level of the building had to be demolished for the Fire Marshal to enter for a proper review of the property. goderich fire - aug 2025 An apartment fire in Goderich, Ont. displaced 26 residents in 18 units. Aug 2, 2025. (Scott Miller/CTV News London) He said the building itself will be demolished and owner is not planning on rebuilding and selling the property. 'What we would like to do is when the property is sold, have a conversation with the new owner, a lot of communities are struggling with affordable housing, this is something that we would like to see developed in that area because that's what was in place at the current time,' said Bazinet. A total of 26 people in the 18 units have been displaced and are currently in the care of the Red Cross with help from Huron County social and property services. A warming centre has opened at the Knights of Columbus at 390 Parsons Court for the displaced residents. Here's how to help Bazinet said there has been a steady stream of people coming to town hall and sending messages asking how to help. '[I'm] always proud of our community whenever there is a time of need,' he said. Town Hall is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Bazinet said town staff are in council chambers rotating every hour to accept gift cards. 'We might think we know what the people need but its actually the people that know what the people need — so we figured gift cards is the right approach so they can purchase whatever they need whether it's clothing or materials or just some groceries and some food.' 'It's been a steady lineup here at town hall which is incredible and we're receiving cash donations as well,' Bazinet added. Goderich's Emergency Control Response Committee is meeting Tuesday afternoon to determine next steps. — with files from CTV NEWS London's Bailey Shakyaver
National Post
34 minutes ago
- National Post
Carney vows $1.2 billion bailout for lumber sector hit by Trump tariffs
Prime Minister Mark Carney promised as much as $1.2 billion to shore up Canada's lumber industry, which has been hit hard by U.S. duties that are about to significantly increase. Article content Carney said Tuesday that up to $700 million in loan guarantees will help forestry companies of all sizes maintain and restructure their operations. He also pledged $500 million in grants and contributions for product development and market diversification. Article content Article content Article content 'Canada does not dump lumber into the United States, and we will continue to make the case that these current and proposed duties are unjustified,' Carney said in West Kelowna, B.C. Article content Article content 'We are a vital supplier to our southern neighbour, representing around a quarter of the U.S. market and helping to keep down the costs of American homes.' Article content The dispute between the U.S. and Canada over softwood lumber stretches back decades, with the U.S. periodically imposing duties to counteract what it claims are unfair Canadian government subsidies. Article content The U.S. Commerce Department is expected on Friday to conclude hiking duties on Canadian softwood to about 35 per cent from a previous total of 14.4 per cent. That's a combination of anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Article content U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated the fight even further, ordering an increase to U.S. lumber production and an investigation of the national security risk of lumber imports. The probe is under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which Trump has already used to place new tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper. Article content Article content Canada shipped $40.3 billion of forest products and building and packaging materials to the U.S. last year, its fifth-largest category of exports to its largest trading partner. Article content Article content Carney said his government would launch its promised homebuilding agency, called Build Canada Homes, in the fall, which will prioritize Canadian lumber, steel and aluminum in construction. Article content It will also require companies contracting with the federal government to source domestic well, the government will draft new initiatives to diversify international markets for Canadian lumber, along with retraining programs for workers, he said. Article content Canada has long denied the U.S. claim that it sets artificially low 'stumpage rates,' fees sawmills pay to provinces to harvest timber from government-owned forests. Article content The World Trade Organization in 2020 largely backed Canada's argument that U.S. levies were unfair. Article content But that stance may be softening. Last month, British Columbia Premier David Eby told Bloomberg News that some Canadian leaders are open to a quota on softwood lumber exports to the U.S. in order to resolve the dispute.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Sawatsky Sign-Off: Fairy Footage
Vancouver Watch Adam meets a man who captured a seemingly supernatural creature on his security camera.
