Thread by @AndersonBooz

A thread about politicians and Ethics Commissioners.

The recently released AB Ethics Commissioner's report on whether or not the Minister of Education @AdrianaLaGrange acted inappropriately in the procurement process for masks has sparked reactions that suggest some background

2/ would help people understand the import better.

Starting with the creation of the Office of the Wthics Commissioner by the PCAA govt led by Don Getty.

It was the last year of his premiership. He had already given us Family Day - one day a year to prevent our children from

3/ becoming criminals. That's a different story, though.

In 1991 the legislation was introduced, in 1992 the Ethics Commissioner was appointed on April Fool's Day. (And Conservative govts have treated it as a joke ever since.) By 1993 it was a fully operational office.

4/ In the first 3 years, the office received 86 cases - most of which were deemed not really worthy of investigation. In the end the only serious one was a breach by Premier Klein himself and a shady deal regarding shares fiven to his wife.

Note that the legislation is very

5/ narrow - the "ethics" being largely about conflict of interest, not about things like dishonesty. So an Ethics Commissioner in Alberta isn't really able to pronounce someone a lying sack of hammers - they can only decide whether or not they benefitted inappropriately from

6/ being a lying sack of hammers.

Generally, Albertans have been content to ignore the Ethics Commissioner.

They perked up a bit when the former Minister of Justice took several actions that seemed to benefit him personally - such as firing the man investigating the UCP

7/ leadership race in which the Minister of Justice himself had played a significant role.

I don't pretend to understand how that level of corruption fails to trigger a guilty finding, but Trussler is a stickler for staying true to the legislation's limits. No judicial creep.

8/ But the case made Albertans pay attention, and many were critical of her. I think they should be wondering why the legislation is still so narrow that such shenanigans can escape it.

Fast forward to this week's report on LaGrange.

The bar is set fairly high for conflict of

9/ interest - and it needs to be. Alberta is like a small town with a population of 4 million. The people who run for office often have extensive networks - and that can be really helpful both in gettong them elected and in making them aware of the challenges Albertans face on a

10/ variety of issues. Suddenly people are realizing things like "Isn't LaGrange's nephew a manager at Cargill?" and the conspiracy theories fly.

So conflict of interest legislation can't be so all-encompassing that our elected bodies are paralyzed just because they have been

11/ connected to people in the past, or because a member of their family is part of a company. Those facts alone aren't conflict of interest.

Read the actual report on LaGrange and mask procurement. It's a beautifully clear read.

While the Commissioner cannot find enough

12/ evidence to make a sound legal finding against LaGrange, she does provide details from the investigation that are disquieting - such as the Minister lying. But remember: lying is not covered by the legislation. (If it were, ymthe Premier and most of @UCPCaucus would be fined

13/ into the poorhouse).

It's important to read the reports, not just react to the findings based on your political leaning. And with Trussler, the reports are worth reading.

This is true of other Canadian govts, both provincial and federal. Some reports make it clear that a

14/ serious allegation has no real basis in fact (the "nothingburger" issues drummed up to promote political chaos) while other reports - like the recent one on LaGrange - may not be able to make a solid enough determination of wrongdoing to warrant action, but still reveal

15/ details that we should be concerned about - such as LaGrange's lie and her staff's amnesia.

An Ethics Commissioner spends a lot of time educating MLAs and their staff. Trying to distinguish between corruption and incompetence and ignorance is a tricky business when the

16/ Legislature sees a fair amount of turnover. With limited budget and resources, the Office may be slower and less thorough than some people would like.

But it's not the Commissioner who controls that.

So if you want a better Office of the Ethics Commissioner, do two things:

17/ First, fight for better legislation so the caucus can't pull stunts like the current UCP caucus has.

Second, fight for better resourcing for the Office of the Ethics Commissioner.

And if you want to try it, suggest that the refusal to introduce broader and stricter

18/ legislation coupled with underfunding of the Office is itself a violation of conflict of interest, because a weak Ethics Commission benefits the members of the govt.

/end of thread...unless I think of something else...

#abpoli #ableg #UCPcorruption