The Manitoba province has requested the auditor general to investigate a $100 million daycare construction project that was launched by the previous Progressive Conservative government in collaboration with a company that made substantial payments to another company co-owned by the director of the PCs’ 2023 re-election campaign.
Back in 2022, the province unveiled a $70 million partnership involving JohnQ Public Inc., a company owned by 12 rural municipalities acting as shareholders. According to Brian O’Leary, the deputy minister of education and early learning, the project managed by JohnQ amounted to nearly $100 million and may have deviated from standard provincial and municipal procurement procedures.
JohnQ engaged in a contract with Boom Done Next, a management consulting firm, confirmed by Colleen Sklar, the CEO of JohnQ Public Inc. Boom Done Next is owned by Joe Leuzzi and Marni Larkin, who served as the PCs’ campaign manager in 2023.
Of the 22 daycares constructed, all but one have been operational, as stated by JohnQ. Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt claimed during a legislative session that former premier Heather Stefanson and ex-education minister Wayne Ewasko “awarded” child-care project contracts to Boom Done Next, coinciding with Larkin’s tenure managing the PC Party campaign.
Schmidt mentioned that Larkin’s company received $2.8 million from public funds. Despite the minister’s assertion that the money paid to Boom Done Next was “awarded” by the former premier and education minister, they were actually contracted by JohnQ.
The province had been under scrutiny regarding the daycare project and the involvement of Boom Done Next for over a week without providing comprehensive answers to inquiries from CBC News.
When approached for an interview, Schmidt displayed limited knowledge about the daycare project. She speculated that the contract with JohnQ might have been tendered or awarded through a request for proposal (RFP), a claim that remains unconfirmed by the province.
Sklar, the CEO of JohnQ Public Inc., mentioned that the idea for the daycare project was proposed by JohnQ and presented to the province in 2021. Sklar emphasized that Leuzzi’s guidance was instrumental in understanding the project requirements, as JohnQ lacked expertise in construction management.
Leuzzi clarified that Boom Done Next’s involvement was centered on delivering results, and Larkin recused herself from the project with no active participation. He criticized the province’s characterization of the situation as a political narrative and defended the project’s integrity.
The daycare project was overseen by JQ Built, a subsidiary of JohnQ Public, which enlisted Boom Done Next for construction contract supervision. The construction contract was granted through a public tender to Pretium Projects, headed by Justin Bova, the son of Joe Bova, who co-chaired the PC Party’s unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2023.
The involvement of Boom Done Next in the project raised concerns following the defeat of the PC Party in 2023, with acknowledgments extended to key individuals involved. JohnQ’s profits are distributed among its shareholder municipalities, although some rural municipalities confirmed they had not yet received any proceeds.
Ewasko, the former education minister, asserted his lack of awareness about the contract with Boom Done Next and denied any involvement with the company during his 2023 re-election campaign. The NDP government has urged the attorney general to conduct a review of the project.
