Wall selected to review pair of Manitoba Hydro projects

Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall has been appointed to complete a review of two major Manitoba Hydro projects that have added billions of dollars to Manitoba’s debt.

Wall is to serve as commissioner of the review into the planning and decision-making that went into the Keeyask Generating Station and the Bipole Three Transmission line.

The projects were built by the province’s previous NDP government.

Crown Services Minister Jeff Wharton said Wall is tasked with looking at the large-scale cost and financial implications these projects have for Manitoba Hydro and

Manitoba ratepayers. Last October, the province hired former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell to do the review.

In February, the government said it was putting Campbell’s appointment on hold following an allegation in a British newspaper that he groped a woman in the United Kingdom.

“This important work will assist our government in avoiding the mistakes we inherited, and will strengthen Manitoba Hydro’s planning, decision-making and management processes, ultimately saving money,” Wharton said.

“It will also greatly assist us in delivering on our own government’s commitment to ensure that all public assets are responsibly conceived and developed and that all public funds are effectively managed for the benefit of all Manitobans.”

Following the review, Wall is to provide the Manitoba government with a report and his recommendations by the end of next October.

Wall served as the premier of Saskatchewan from 2007 to 2018.

He now works as a special adviser in the law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP.