Jeff Wharton

Jeff Wharton is a Canadian politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Red River North, formerly serving as the Minister of Economic Development, Investment and Trade. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, he was first elected in the 2016 provincial election as MLA for Gimli, and re-elected in 2019 and 2023 as MLA for Red River North.

Wharton initially ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Gimli in the 2011 provincial election, but lost to incumbent NDP MLA Peter Bjornson. When Bjornson retired in 2015, Wharton ran and was elected MLA for Gimli in the 2016 Manitoba election.

On August 17, 2017, Premier Brian Pallister appointed Wharton as Minister of Municipal Relations.

Following electoral boundary changes implemented in 2019, Gimli was dissolved and Wharton successfully sought election in the new constituency of Red River North.

Wharton was appointed Minister of Crown Services on September 26, 2019. He was succeeded by the Honourable Jamie Moses with the election of the NDP government in 2023. On October 24, 2023, he was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Economic Development, Investment and Trade.

Electoral record

Controversies

On May 21, 2025, Wharton was one of three Tories found to have violated the province's conflict of interest law by the provinces ethics commissioner. The investigation ruled that Wharton acted improperly by pushing for an environmental license to be granted to the Sio Silica mining project after the Tories lost the 2023 election to the NDP. Wharton was subsequently stripped of his critic duties and fined $10,000.

On October 29, 2025 while Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew was speaking about the rights of vulnerable groups (including the disenfranchisement of Indigenous peoples), Wharton made a “waah, waah” sound and gesture in a sarcastic and mocking tone, after the Premier’s mention that his father was not allowed to vote.

Although no formal sanction against Wharton has been reported in connection to these incidents, the events drew media attention and raised questions about the conduct of MLAs in the chamber and the treatment of issues relating to Indigenous rights and marginalized groups.