Saskatchewan Elections: Former Saskatchewan Party MP Gary Grewal disagrees with conflict of interest report

Former Saskatchewan Party MP Gary Grewal defends his conduct and disagrees with a recent report from the Conflict of Interest Commissioner (COIC) – which found he broke rules that prohibit MPs from participating in contracts governments.

Grewal sent a lengthy statement to CTV News on Wednesday – highlighting his involvement in the Sunrise Motel and Thriftlodge, calling the COIC decision “unfair.”

“I firmly maintain my position that a social worker booking a room for a vulnerable citizen in a motel does not constitute a ‘government contract’ and I believe the Commissioner’s decision completely misconstrues the nature of these transactions, which are essentially vouchers issued to individuals. in need of temporary shelter,” the statement said.

Grewal is listed as the owner of the Sunrise Motel, which received $220,474 while housing social services clients from 2022 to 2023.

His involvement with the Thriftlodge took the form of a $100,000 loan to the establishment. The Thriftlodge received $139,478 from April 2023 to September 2024.

The COIC found that Grewal failed to divest itself of Thriftlodge as a lender. He claims he received no prior instructions from COIC to claim the loan and reiterated that he had no ownership interest in the motel.

Premier Scott Moe said earlier this week he accepted the commissioner’s findings.

The Saskatchewan NDP is calling for stricter conflict of interest rules for MPs.

“We earn good income. We should be focused on working for the people of Saskatchewan and not on these side hustles,” NDP candidate Meara Conway said Wednesday.

The report outlines the sanctions that MPs can face if they find themselves in a conflict of interest – these include fines and reprimands.

Grewal retired from politics. The NDP is committed to continuing policy changes in the Legislative Assembly after the election.

Grewal’s full statement can be read below:

“I firmly maintain my position that a social worker booking a room for a vulnerable citizen in a motel does not constitute a ‘government contract’ and I believe the Commissioner’s decision completely misconstrues the nature of these transactions, which are essentially vouchers given to individuals. in need of temporary shelter.

Despite my sincere belief, once the Commissioner shared his opinion on December 15, 2023, following my own request for advice, I ordered Sunrise Motel to no longer accept new guests effective March 15, 2024 , which is within the 90 hours allowed. timeline of the day. If I am criticized for not wanting to evict current social services clients who have no other place to go, which I informed the commissioner of without objection (the last client stayed until March 25 2024), I have no qualms about making this decision. .

However, I consulted with the Conflict of Interest Commissioner regarding my role as a mere creditor of the Thriftlodge Motel and clarified that I had merely loaned funds to the owner of the Thriftlodge 13 years ago and had not received any since when interests. I do not own any shares and do not own any part of Thriftlodge. Even if I wanted to, I have no authority or influence over its management, pricing, or policies. The Commissioner was particularly aware of this and at no time did he suggest to me or my legal advisor that I should cancel the loan, cancel the loan or take any other action.

In his opinion, he states: “While I accept that taking such action would be difficult (if not impossible) given that Mr. Grewal is not involved in the operations of the Thriftlodge Motel, it was therefore Mr. Grewal’s responsibility to get rid of this motel. .

If he had given the opinion he has today, I would have explored the options within the same 90 day time frame. He himself said that it was almost impossible for me to do anything differently. Since there was no communication from the commissioner informing me of the conflict, no direction from the commissioner that I should act and that I was not seeking re-election, I had no reason to claim the loan or to take any other action.

I think it is very unfair of the Commissioner to state, as he did in his decision, that I should have, in one way or another, assumed that he considered that the same reasoning applied when he could have simply provided such an opinion to myself or my legal counsel, as he does with the Sunrise Motel.

He gave no opinion, verbal or otherwise, suggesting that my 13-year loan to a member of the community with terms and interest payments remaining completely unchanged would constitute a dereliction of my duties as an MP until Monday of this week, and I think it’s very unfair to me.