Bill passes to fire Alberta election watchdog during probe of governing party

EDMONTON — The Alberta government has passed a bill to fire election commissioner Lorne Gibson, raising questions about the future of Gibson’s investigation into Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party.

Kenney’s government introduced the bill on Monday and invoked time limits on all three stages of debate and it was passed Thursday.

NDP Opposition critic Sarah Hoffman criticized the UCP for pushing the bill through while Kenney was in Texas on a trade mission.

“The premier has not addressed this bill even once in this place, and I think that that’s shameful,” Hoffman told the chamber prior to the vote.

“If you want to bring forward a bill to fire the guy who’s investigating fraud, forgery, and bribery in your own party, you should at least stand in this place and defend that.”

NDP critic Marlin Schmidt compared Kenney’s government to that of Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

“They’ve consolidated power and moved so quickly, Vladimir Putin would blush at the gall that these people have in crushing democracy.”

The bill makes the election commissioner’s job a staff position under chief electoral officer Glen Resler rather than an independent office of the legislature, and specifies that Gibson’s contract be terminated.

The UCP says it’s strictly a cost-saving move and there is nothing stopping a new election commissioner from continuing the investigation.

The New Democrats say Gibson’s firing will have a chilling effect and the investigation will die.

UCP deputy whip Joseph Schow accused the Opposition of sullying Resler’s integrity by suggesting he will ditch the investigation.

“How arrogant is that … to suggest that we control what Mr. Resler does. His is an independent office and one that must be respected and not passed around this chamber like a political football,” Schow said.

The bill also transfers control of the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund, along with funds for the Workers’ Compensation Board and Alberta Health Services, to the Alberta Investment Management Corp., a Crown corporation.

Gibson has been investigating fundraising violations tied to the 2017 UCP leadership race and has levied more than $200,000 in fines to date.

Kenney won the race and earlier this year the United Conservatives won the general election.

The NDP has been making several last-ditch attempts to stop the bill.

The party has written to Lt.-Gov. Lois Mitchell asking her to intervene on the grounds that the bill is an abuse of privilege by Kenney’s government. Mitchell’s signature is needed to proclaim the bill and make it law.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley also wrote to ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler on Wednesday asking that she ban the entire UCP caucus from voting on the bill on the grounds that United Conservatives are all in a conflict of interest because they would benefit from having Gibson’s contract terminated.

Hoffman told the house Trussler had informed the party that she would need more time to make such a decision.

Gibson, in a public letter, has said his office has received more than 800 complaints of election irregularities, and he is concerned that his dismissal will undermine faith in the independence and integrity of the election process.

Questions over the bill also led to Notley being kicked out of the chamber.

She was ousted Tuesday by Speaker Nathan Cooper when she refused to apologize after accusing government house leader Jason Nixon of misleading the house on the bill.

Notley has said Cooper’s office has made it clear to her that she must apologize before she will be allowed back.

Notley said Wednesday that Kenney has earned the dubious distinction of being “the most corrupt and anti-democratic premier in the history of the country.”

She said she can’t find another example in Canada where a premier or prime minister shut down a quasi-judicial inquiry into his or her actions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2019.

 

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press