Thompson Local News

Call Made For Provincial Cabinet Minister To Resign

The leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party has called for the resignation of Rochelle Squires, the Minister for Sustainable Development.

 

Dougald Lamont says that Squires should resign her post for withholding a report that says there are elevated levels of toxic materials in an area of Winnipeg, and for misleading people as to why.

 

A report revealing a soil test result from South St. Boniface, which showed increased levels of lead and other metals, was released by the Pallister Government on July 17th, a day after the St. Boniface by-election.  At the time, government officials claimed that the report could not have been made public before then due to by-election blackout rules.

 

Reports have surfaced that the results of the soil tests were delivered to the minister by her deputy over a month before it was made public, and two weeks before the by-election was called.

 

Once it was made public that Squires had the report long before the blackout took effect, Lamont says that she now blames her staff. The release from the Liberal party says that Squires claims that she didn’t know about the reports, despite her deputy and other staff having included her on emails. 

 

The Liberal leaders said “for a Minister to withhold a report like this, and for a government to mislead people about why, is unacceptable.” Lamont added that the only way for the Pallister Government to show accountability in this case is for Squires to take responsibility and resign.

 

The minister held a press conference last fall based on preliminary data, telling residents of St. Boniface that there was no problem with the soil and that they “just had to wash their vegetables”.

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