Former PC government paid JohnQ Public $18M days before election announced
Money earmarked for Winnipeg regional rail port in RM of Ritchot
One week before the last provincial election was called, the then Progressive Conservative government quietly gave JohnQ Public an $18-million grant.
There was no public announcement about the one-time funding that was paid in full to JohnQ — a company owned by 12 rural municipalities — on Aug. 29, 2023.
The grant is for a land purchase in the rural municipality of Ritchot to develop a proposed "Winnipeg regional rail port," NDP government principal secretary Emily Coutts said in an email.
"The grant was intended to support JohnQ's purchase of the lands plus some funds to cover engineering and environmental assessments," Coutts said.
JohnQ has come under scrutiny in the past month after the government requested Manitoba's auditor general to review a $100-million daycare construction program initiated by the previous government that JohnQ project managed with the help of Boom Done Next — a company co-owned by Marni Larkin, the director of the PCs' 2023 re-election campaign.
In April, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said Boom, Done Next was paid $2.8 million by JohnQ for the work.
The provincial funds given to JohnQ were not awarded through a tendered contract.
"A grant to purchase lands is not a good or service therefore it's not required to go to tender," Coutts said.
Coutts said a project such as this would require multiple regulatory steps including zoning approvals, assessing highway development needs and finding an anchor tenant.
JohnQ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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