Doug Black named to Senate, as questions about his past U of C expenses remain unanswered

Prime Minister Stephen Harper named another of Alberta’s elected senators to the upper chamber Friday, but this one will be bringing his share of baggage to Ottawa.

Doug Black, a lawyer and University of Calgary’s former board chairman, secured his nomination in last April’s senator election.

Four months later came revelations that he had racked up $28,000 in travel and office expenses in 18 months as the school’s chair, including bills for executive class flights and liquor that had contravened school policy and he had to pay back.

Black resigned from his university post in October after repaying all his office expenses, even the permissible ones.

Yet he has never spoken publicly about the controversy, and a spokesman said the newly minted senator was travelling outside Alberta and would not be giving interviews Friday.

Since Black got the most votes in the senate election, the Progressive Conservative candidate was first in line for appointment to the red chamber. That chance came when Harper replaced five Senate retirees Friday, including Alberta’s Joyce Fairbairn, two appointees from Ontario, and one each from Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

All appointments took effect immediately.

In a two-sentence statement a spokesman sent out, Black thanked the PM for respecting the election result. “I look forward to joining the Conservative caucus and to getting started on the work ahead to advance the issues that are critical to Alberta, principally the growth of our economy.”

The statement made no mention of the university expense issue. Also unanswered are fresh questions tied to last week’s allegation at Alberta’s health care queue-jumping inquiry that clients of Helios Wellness Centre, a U of C tenant, routinely got preferential treatment at a publicly financed colon cancer screening facility.

Black and a fellow university governor had declared conflicts of interest and recused themselves when the board discussed renewal of the private clinic’s lease in October 2011.

The new senator owed it to Albertans to explain his stewardship of public money as U of C chairman, and does even more so now, said Scott Hennig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“Now that he’s actually an elected official and has a mandate from the people, he’s not going to be able to handle himself the same way,” said Hennig, who was first to obtain Black’s U of C expense records under information access laws.

He joins other elected Alberta senators Betty Unger and Bert Brown, although Brown will hit the mandatory retirement age of 75 in March.

Next in line is fellow Tory nominee Scott Tannas, CEO of insurance firm Western Financial Group. The three other Alberta senators were all appointed by former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin: Elaine McCoy as a Progressive Conservative, and Claudette Tardif and Grant Mitchell as Liberals.

The man who will now be known as Senator Black is vice-chairman of law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain, a top Alberta Tory fundraiser, and until October he also chaired the Michaelle Jean Foundation — the former governor general’s charity organization for arts and youth. Black was also well-regarded in the province’s arts community, as a former director of the Banff Centre.

His wife, Linda Black, is a national power player as well. A retired lawyer, she has sat on the boards of both the Banff Centre and CBC.

Original Article
Source: calgary herald
Author: Jason Markusoff