Manitoba cabinet minister denies insider trading after selling shares in phone company blamed for 911 outage

Ian Froese · CBC News

· Posted: May 27, 2025 10:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

A Manitoba furniture curate is being accused of insider trading for selling his shares in Telus while knowing the company's 911 telephone outage whitethorn person contributed to a 55-year-old's death.

The Tories filed a ailment with the morals commissioner Tuesday, alleging Mike Moroz, curate of innovation and caller technology, relied connected accusation helium lone knew arsenic authorities curate erstwhile helium unloaded his stocks successful the telecommunications company.

The enactment argued Moroz's actions violated Manitoba's conflict of involvement act.

It seems that the "minister was privy to insider accusation that lone helium had successful regards to a damning … Telus study in relation to the decease of a Manitoban erstwhile the 911 strategy went down," Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said.

However, Moroz is rejecting the allegations. He said helium was solely acting connected nationalist accusation and media reports erstwhile helium chose to merchantability his stocks successful Telus, and his determination shows he was going "above and beyond" requirements from the morals commissioner.

Shares sold 1 period aft news

The Tory ailment centres connected the timing of Moroz selling his shares.

Public disclosure records amusement helium disposed of his Telus shares connected May 13, 1 day before helium named the institution in question period for a 911 outage that prevented Dean Switzer's loved ones from reaching emergency dispatch centre. None of their much than 20 calls were answered.

Switzer, 55, died of a bosom onslaught successful his location extracurricular Fisher Branch, Man., connected March 23.

The communicative was initially reported by CTV News connected Apr. 8 and the adjacent time Moroz sent a missive to Telus regarding his concerns.

A period later, the Progressive Conservatives brought up the outage in question play and Moroz didn't azygous retired the institution portion answering questions, according to a authoritative transcription of the legislative debate.

He lone mentioned Telus by sanction connected May 14, the time aft helium sold his shares, according to disclosure records.

The adjacent time successful question period, Moroz revealed helium had read Telus's interim study astir the telephone outage.

"Mr. Moroz had a backstage interest, helium owned shares successful Telus Corporation. He sold those shares portion being informed of an interior probe into a strategy nonaccomplishment that disrupted entree to exigency services," the PC ailment reads.

"This is simply a textbook illustration of making fiscal decisions related to accusation not disposable to the wide public, and abusing entree disposable solely arsenic a effect of his presumption arsenic a curate of the Crown."

Moroz denied having privileged information. He called the Tory accusations "baseless."

"I acted based on publicly disposable accusation and media reporting. If the absorption had done their probe properly, they besides would person made this determination," helium told reporters, who waited 46 minutes for Moroz to code media after the Progressive Conservatives answered questions connected the morals commissioner complaint.

Moroz said helium was relying connected publically accessible information, specified as Telus's letters to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which tin be found online.

"We person nary regulatory authorization implicit telecommunications, truthful determination is nary conceivable wrong accusation that I could person entree to," Moroz said.

"Telus owes maine thing successful presumption of communication. In fact, neither the interim study nor the last study were sent to my office. I got them online with everyone else."

He added the morals commissioner, with whom helium met shortly aft becoming a furniture curate precocious past year, had nary contented with him owning stocks successful Telus.

Moroz said helium went "above and beyond what's necessary" successful choosing to merchantability the stocks. The minister's bureau said that Moroz lost astir $1,000 connected the transaction, and that his stocks successful the institution were valued astatine $10,930.

'No impropriety:' Moroz

"What I wanted to marque definite I did was marque definite that not lone was determination no impropriety, but there's nary quality of impropriety," Moroz said.

Public disclosure records lone necessitate MLAs to database the shares, held by themselves, their spouse oregon dependents, in which the worth exceeds $5,000.

Moroz added he sold his shares connected May 8, but it took until May 13 for the alteration to beryllium reflected successful the disclosure records.

The PCs brought guardant the caller morals ailment conscionable days aft the enactment was rapped by the morals commissioner for trying to propulsion done a silica soil mining task aft losing the 2023 election. The commissioner recommended three elder Tories, including erstwhile premier Heather Stefanson, be fined betwixt $10,000 and $18,000 each.