EDMONTON – One in four Alberta Conservative MLAs accepted freebies in 2009, and MLA Carl Benito failed to pay his property taxes, a new government report shows.
Ethics Commissioner Neil Wilkinson on Monday released updated copies of MLAs’ public disclosure statements, which detail gifts over $400 and show potential conflicts of interest.
Seventeen of Alberta’s 68 Conservative MLAs accepted gifts and travel, ranging from concert tickets to fishing trips, from rounds of golf and helicopter rides to hotel rooms. None of the 15 opposition members accepted travel or gifts.
The freebies were typically provided by resource or telecommunications companies, businesses or other governments.
Finance Minister Ted Morton and MLA Doug Elniski both went salmon fishing.
Morton was the minister responsible for wildlife management when he to travelled to the Queen Charlotte Islands to fish with constituent Fred Mannix, a builder and philanthropist from one of the wealthiest families in Canada. Mannix family companies contributed nearly $17,000 to the Tory party in 2009.
"We focused on conservation efforts in Alberta and British Columbia," Morton said, noting Mannix is a big supporter of Ducks Unlimited and that three other conservation organizations attended the trip. "We were comparing notes on fish habitat restoration."
Morton also attended the Prentice-Ames Charity Golf Tournament with tickets provided by Conoco Phillips.
Elniski travelled to the Painter’s Lodge in Campbell River, B.C., a premier salmon fishing destination visited by the likes of Bing Crosby, Goldie Hawn and the Prince of Luxembourg, according its website.
Elniski told the Edmonton Journal he was invited by Hemisphere Engineering but paid for his own flight and accommodations; the ethics commissioner’s report says room and board were "provided by Hemisphere Engineering."
The same Alberta-based engineering firm contributed more than $22,000 to the Conservatives in 2009, and also paid for Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky to attend the Grant MacEwan Community College fundraiser. Zwozdesky also stayed at Victoria’s Bear Mountain Resort on Telus’s dime, where he played nine holes of golf at the Pro-Am Skins tournament on a semi-private championship course designed by Jack Nicklaus. Zwozdesky said he paid for his own flight.
"They asked me if I could participate at this special Pro-Am and talk to some people there about encouraging more . . . physical activity," he said. "I spent the morning there speaking with some of the pro golfers."
Education Minister Dave Hancock saw Rod Stewart perform with free tickets from Altalink, which owns half the electricity transmission lines in the province and gave more than $16,000 to the Conservative Party in 2009. The provincial lobbyist registry shows Altalink’s chief lobbyist, Jack Janssen, was a special assistant to Hancock from 1999 to 2006. Hancock could not be reached for comment.
Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk got free tickets from Edmonton Northlands to see Lady Gaga perform; he also went to the Calgary Stampede and the 2010 Honda Indy for free. Treasury Board president Lloyd Snelgrove took his wife and son to see Fleetwood Mac courtesy of Telus. Neither Lukaszuk nor Snelgrove could be reached for comment.
Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett and his son attended the World Junior Hockey Tournament in Ottawa as guests of Hockey Canada. Blackett said he paid his own flight and accommodation and while in Ottawa attended meetings aimed at helping Alberta prepare to host the World Juniors in 2012.
Premier Ed Stelmach stayed in Abu Dhabi at a hotel paid for by the Crown Prince, while the State of Qatar paid for former Health Minister Ron Liepert to visit and attend the inaugural convocation of University of Calgary-Qatar nursing graduates.
Liepert also took three aerial tours of coal, oilsands and transmission projects, while Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson accepted a helicopter tour of the oilsands from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
Carl Benito, the Edmonton-Millwoods MLA who was criticized recently for not following through on a promise to donate his salary to charity, has not paid property taxes on his four rental properties, according to the report. Benito did not return calls Monday.
Spokesman Glen Resler of the ethics commissioner’s office said all gifts are approved before they become public. If an MLA accepts a gift and the commissioner later deems it inappropriate, the member must return the gift or repay the cost. Those lapses are "occasional" and remain secret, Resler said.
Items such as concert tickets and fishing trips are typically approved because MLAs are public figures who have a broad range of social obligations and often find themselves on the receiving end of "complimentary hospitality" and "tokens of appreciation," he said.
The Conflicts of Interest Act does provide for sanctions against MLAs who break the rules, but no MLA has faced sanctioned in the 20-year history of the legislation.
"Really, this legislation is self-administered by the members," Resler said. "The MLAs in Alberta are really very ethical, an ethical bunch of people, so we are fortunate."
Edmonton Journal
Comments