Who's watching the cookie jar?
Provincial conflict of interest laws flawed
Now the provincial election is over and MLAs are getting down to business. But who will watch them to keep them honest? If you guessed the ethics commissioner (EC), that's exactly what the government wants you to believe.
Every year, MLAs file financial disclosure information with the EC’s office. EC Robert C. Clark then meets with each member and generates a summarized public disclosure statement. There is only one problem: the statements do not contain enough information for any member of the public to see an accurate picture of the personal state of affairs of our government representatives.
Prior to the election, certified financial planner Kevin Algar, a partner in Algar Virtue and Associates, looked at the public disclosure documents of Premier Ralph Klein, former Liberal Leader Nancy MacBeth and New Democrat leader Raj Pannu.
"If a client were to give me this information, it would be totally inadequate for me to provide recommendations," says Algar, after viewing the statements.
He explains that the documents lack vital information needed to understand a member's full financial situation.
"The disclosures should include corporate structure, venture partners, subsidiaries, and more detail about numbered companies."
Algar says the disclosure statements could be made more informative and meaningful – if that is the intended goal.
"Members of the Legislative Assembly are expected to perform their duties of office and arrange their private affairs in a manner that promotes public confidence and trust in the integrity of each Member," says the preamble in the Conflicts of Interest Act.
Yet the act prohibits disclosure of "things used personally by a Member or one of the Member's family; unpaid taxes; and support obligations."
The statements, however, provide some tidbits of general information.
Under pension rights, the EC reports that Klein has no pension entitlements, MacBeth is entitled to an "MLA Pension Plan and Ministerial Pension Plan," and Pannu has rights to two different university pension plans.
On both Klein's and MacBeth’s statements, two sources of expenses are listed – one under "income" and one under "leader’s expenses." No dollar figures are provided, nor are any details given to differentiate the two sources of expenses.
The legislation giving Clark his authority is a tangle of contradictions. On the one hand it proclaims lofty ideals, and on the other it prevents disclosure. The EC is supposed to exclude "information identifying a home or recreational property occupied by the Member...." However, MacBeth's disclosure lists one recreational property in Jasper, and Pannu's statement lists the address of his Edmonton residence.
Still, the disclosure statements’ most apparent failure is their lack of detail. For example, Klein's statement includes Eagle Pointe Lodge as an asset. It fails to state if Klein is the sole owner or merely a shareholder of this exclusive fishing haven in northern B.C. Under the "financial Interests" column, Klein is reported to have an interest in Eagle Pointe Inc. (751338 Alberta Ltd.). The statement does not specify the quantity of interest, nor other holders of interest. Surprisingly, Eagle Pointe is not listed as a source of income.
In Pannu's case, Panbros Investments, Briarcliff Investments, and 413206 Alberta Ltd. are listed as financial interests, but no other material details of the three companies are given to the public.
This points out a major deficiency – an MLA could own interests in a company doing business with another corporation who then does business with the government. Such a relationship would not be readily available for the public to see.
The EC could be considered to be in a conflict of interest himself, serving simultaneously as Freedom of Information and Privacy Commissioner and as Ethics Commissioner – in 1997, the Liberals criticized Clark on this very point. In addition, the EC acts as investigator with the power to subpoena witnesses, and as judge who issues a final report.
"The public has every right to know where their MLA has a financial interest," says Clark, who finishes his 10th year as EC in 2002. |
