Deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk told the legislature that the Election Finances and Contributions Act doesn’t prevent Chief Electoral Officer Brian Fjeldheim from making details about the donations public.
“If he chooses to do so, he is welcome to do it,” Lukaszuk said.
“He is independent. He does not need permission from this government.”
For days, the government repeatedly said Fjeldheim’s predecessor, Lorne Gibson, had requested the government pass secrecy provisions to protect the identities of corporations that made illegal donations to political parties.
They pointed to a recommendation in a 2008 report, in which Gibson asked the government to add a rule that says “an investigation shall be conducted in private.”
Government MLAs — including Lukaszuk and Justice Minister Jonathan Denis — repeatedly told the legislature they had simply enacted the requests Gibson had requested, and that if Fjeldheim wanted those rules changed, he would only have to ask for the changes.
The government changed its tune after Gibson said he did not intend for the outcome of investigations to be kept secret.
Asked if he did not want penalties and offenders to remain secret, Gibson told the Calgary Herald in an email: “You are correct in your assumption.” His comment was backed by elections office spokesman Drew Westwater, who said: “We were only referring to the investigation phase, we did not go further than that.”
It’s not yet clear whether Fjeldheim will now release the information. He has previously said his office had obtained a legal opinion on the interpretation of the law, and that the lawyers said the information must be kept secret.
The Wildrose has relentlessly hammered the government on the issue. In a point of privilege Tuesday, Wildrose MLA Shayne Saskiw alleged that Denis had intentionally misled the legislature. Speaker Gene Zwozdesky ruled on the allegation Wednesday, calling it a “disagreement” about interpretation.
“Given the strength of (Denis’s) convictions on this point, it could not be said that he intended to mislead the assembly,” Zwozdesky said. “Even if the minister was mistaken, there is no evidence that anyone was actually misled.”
But Saskiw launched another attack Wednesday, alleging the Conservative accepted nearly $4,000 in illegal donations from Mount Royal University, including $1,800 to Premier Redford’s own constituency of Calgary-Elbow. The allegations are supported by information released by the university under access to information laws.
“How can Albertans believe that the premier will actually walk her talk and that her government is actually serious about cleaning up its act,” Saskiw asked.
It is not known whether the chief electoral officer will investigate the allegations.
David Docherty, who became president of Mount Royal University last summer, said all cases involved university officials who attended Tory events and were then reimbursed by the institution.
He couldn’t say whether officials attended at the direction of the university
“The university should not have done this,” said Docherty, who noted all money has since been paid back to the university.
Mount Royal paid $1,800 to attend two events for Redford’s Calgary-Elbow constituency association in 2008.
The university is in her riding.
“It was the local MLA who happened to be someone who went on to become premier,” Docherty said.
Original Article
Source: edmonton journal
Author: Karen Kleiss
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