North Dakota
Port: Commerce Department didn't turn over email relevant to film grant controversy
MINOT — After the debacle over former Attorney General
Wayne Stenehjem’s
deleted emails, North Dakotans might be excused if they are feeling something less than confident in the willingness of our state’s leaders to be transparent and forthcoming with public information.
Unfortunately, the state Department of Commerce just gave us another justification for our cynicism.
At issue is a controversy over film grants. The Commerce Department contends that it held a competitive process for a $600,000 film grant that
went to a Bismarck-based company called Canticle Productions.
Dozens of North Dakota filmmakers, some of whom bid for that grant, argue it was not a fair process, that the grant was always intended for Canticle and that the Commerce Department’s competitive process was a sham.
Based on the facts in evidence, the filmmakers have the better case.
The legislative record
makes it clear that at least some lawmakers wanted to steer the grant to Canticle. Additionally, the competitive process around the grant
was
abbreviated,
beginning late on a Friday and encompassing just six business days.
A report
recently issued by Auditor Josh Gallion found that this timeline was far shorter than what the Commerce Department was allowed for other similar grants from the recent past.
Now the filmmakers have more evidence coming in the form of an email that should have been included in the response to a previous open records request.
Bismarck-based businessman Matt Fern, who has been
organizing the response to this situation
on behalf of the filmmakers, had a sit-down with personnel from Gov. Doug Burgum’s administration recently. During that conversation, the officials made reference to an email sent from Daniel Bielinski, the president of Canticle Productions, to Commerce Commissioner Josh Teigen. Fern noticed that he had never received this email in response to his records request.
After the meeting, in an Aug. 22, email, Sara Otte Coleman, director of tourism and marketing for the Commerce Department, acknowledged that this email should have been turned over. She provided Fern with the copied and pasted text from the email exchange, and the contents are remarkable.
In it, Bielinski references the legislation from the 2023 session appropriating the funds for the grant, and offers the presumption that the funds are intended for his company.
“My name is Daniel Bielinski. I am the president of Canticle Productions, to whom a $600K grant was award in a bill from this past legislative session,” he wrote to Teigen in the May 26, 2023, email. “I was wondering if we might connect for a couple minutes regarding some logistics for the payout (which I know doesn’t happen until the new fiscal year). Would you have time for a quick call next week?”
“I don’t believe the legislation stated a recipient, which would require us to follow state procurement laws and post for a competitive RFP process,” Teigen responded, directing Bielinski to work with Coleman, whom he copied on his reply.
In passing Bielinski’s email along to Fern, Coleman wrote that it “didn’t come up on previous searches, as it originated from a different email address and slightly different name. We apologize and have improved our internal process to include boarder and separate search terms for public information requests going forward.”
This is a bombshell.
Let’s consider the timeline.
On May 18, 2023, Gov. Doug Burgum signed House Bill 1018, which was the Commerce Department budget and included the appropriation for the $600,000 grant Bielinski was emailing about.
On May 26, 2023, Bielinski emails Teigen, asking, essentially, how he goes about getting his company’s money. Teigen responds the same day, saying that there will have to be a competitive process for the grant, and that Bielinski should work with Coleman.
On July 21, 2023, a Friday, the Commerce Department makes a late afternoon announcement that it is accepting bids on the grant.
On July 31, 2023, just 10 calendar days, and only six business days, after announcing the availability of the grant, the Commerce Departments
stops accepting bids.
On Aug. 3, 2023, Commerce Department officials scored the bids and awarded the entire grant to Bielinski’s company.
Again, the filmmakers contend that certain lawmakers and Burgum administration officials steered the grant toward Canticle Productions, and that the competitive bidding process was just an exercise in going through the motions. The Commerce Department maintains that the bidding process was fair and open.
At the very least, there is a serious appearance of impropriety here. The legislative record indicates that the grant was to be steered toward Canticle. That company’s president certainly felt that the grant money belonged to him. The Commerce Department held what can fairly be called a perfunctory bidding process for the grant, ultimately awarding it to Canticle.
Can the filmmakers, particularly those who took the time to prepare proposals for the grant, be blamed for feeling like they got the short end of the stick? And now, further undermining our trust in this process, Commerce officials just happen to find an email that bolsters the argument that this process was unfair, but only after it was incidentally referenced in a meeting with the filmmakers?
That stinks, and it’s well past time for Gov. Doug Burgum and legislative leaders to admit it.
North Dakota
Viewpoint: Success of Dakota Access Pipeline leads to rise in North Dakota’s Legacy Fund
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, the United States has good reason to take stock of how well it has invested in domestic oil and gas production. North Dakota set the early pace, pioneering the unconventional drilling and completion techniques that now power the industry, and managing its economic and regulatory environment responsibly along the way.
In the past, the Dakota Access Pipeline faced unbelievable opposition. It has been 10 years since protests erupted against it, leading to more than 100 arrests and, more recently, a $345 million ruling against Greenpeace. At the height of the controversy, DAPL became a national flashpoint. In 2021, I authored an opinion column supporting DAPL, pointing out that the Army Corps of Engineers extensively reviewed the project. It was subject to more than 1,000 permits and approvals. The Corps determined that the risk of incident was “not just low, but remote and speculative.”
Since that time and despite all the opposition, DAPL has been an undeniable success. A decade later, the results speak for themselves. It has supported oil production in the United States and now safely transports more than 50% of the crude oil from the Bakken to U.S. refineries. In doing so, it has helped reduce reliance on less efficient transportation methods like rail and strengthened the broader U.S. energy supply chain. It has and continues to strengthen the tax base that feeds North Dakota’s Legacy Fund, which was designed to turn petroleum wealth into long-term public savings.
The Legacy Fund functions as North Dakota’s long-term savings account, with earnings helping to fund priorities like property tax relief, local infrastructure projects and highways. It was created to use oil and gas tax revenues to support long-term economic stability in North Dakota. To date, there has been over $2.5 billion in distributions as it boosts local businesses and projects, especially in those towns and cities that do not have oil revenues. The Legacy Fund now tops $14.25 billion, with revenues drawn from a 30% share of taxes on petroleum production and extraction.
About 10 years ago, the fund was roughly $3.8 billion. Since DAPL came online, this critical fund has grown by more than $10 billion. The remarkable growth underscores the scale of DAPL’s contribution, which represents a significant share of the Legacy Fund’s inflows. Beyond the Legacy Fund, the industry’s broader contribution can be seen in the Common Schools Trust Fund, which has grown from $200 million 20 years ago to $8.7 billion through lease sales and mineral royalties on state-owned property.
State officials estimate that shutting DAPL would reduce revenues by about $1.2 billion in the first year and roughly $116 million thereafter. A shutdown of DAPL would also result in an estimated $102 million in losses to the Legacy Fund. It would cause an immediate loss of 600 to 750 full-time jobs, along with 2,000-3,000 permanent North Dakota jobs. These numbers represent livelihoods and the economic stability for thousands of families across the state.
As a former mayor, I applaud the fund’s support of local infrastructure projects. Many towns face critical infrastructure needs, with few paths to fund them. The Legacy Fund can fill these gaps for many North Dakota. I have seen first-hand how investments in roads, water systems, and public facilities can shape a community’s future — and how difficult those investments can be without reliable funding.
DAPL has helped sustain critical oil production, tax revenues, and economic stability for North Dakota. The Legacy Fund’s growth is now a multibillion-dollar asset benefiting every citizen of North Dakota. Ten years after the protests, the debate should be grounded in results. The pipeline has operated safely, delivered measurable benefits, and strengthened both state and national interests. It remains a key piece of infrastructure for both North Dakota and the broader U.S. energy economy. As the United States works to build energy dominance in an uncertain world, North Dakota offers a playbook worth following.
Patrice Douglass is an attorney and former chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. She currently serves as a strategic advisor to Grow America’s Infrastructure Now (GAIN).
Summer is here, and that means our annual Summer Reading Program is underway. This year’s theme is “Unearth a Story!” and focuses on dinosaurs, archaeology and history.
We have a variety of programs for all ages, including story times for preschoolers and school-age children, movies for kids and adults, crafts and special presentations. This summer, we are bringing back crowd favorite The Mixed Nuts, who will perform their family-friendly comedy show at 1 p.m. June 24. We will also host a puppet performance by Sonflower Puppets at 1 p.m. July 15. All programs are free and open to the public.
We are once again partnering with the Bank of North Dakota to give College SAVE certificates to all youth reading program finishers. When children age 18 and younger complete their reading logs, they will receive money from the Bank of North Dakota to contribute to a 529 college savings account. All finishers will also be entered into a drawing for one of 10 additional $529 scholarships at the end of the summer program.
We are also excited to announce a new partnership with the FM RedHawks. Children enrolled in the school-age summer reading program for grades K-5 can sign up to become one of Hawkeye’s Bookworms. Participants will receive four additional prizes from the RedHawks, including tickets to a RedHawks home game. No additional forms or reading requirements are needed to participate.
Thank you to the Bank of North Dakota and the FM RedHawks for supporting our summer reading program.
Lastly, we are pleased to announce that the Leach Public Library is now fine-free. If you have been reluctant to use the library because of overdue fines on your account, those fines are now being waived. If you have a long-lost library book at home, simply return it and no fine will be charged.
We are excited to remove this barrier, which has often prevented people from using both the library’s physical collection and digital services available throughout the Libby app. Fines will still apply to lost or damaged materials, as well as circulating technology such as iPads and Launchpad tablets.
For more information about fines or library cards, please contact the library.
Have a safe and happy June! We look forward to seeing you at the Leach Public Library!
Rachel Kercher is the youth services librarian at the Leach Public Library.
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