Ethics commissioner clears justice minister in case tied to funding of oilpatch protesters

EDMONTON Alberta’s ethics commissioner says Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer didn’t break the rules when he hired Steve Allan to run a public inquiry into whether foreign money is bankrolling anti-oil protests in Canada.

Marguerite Trussler, in a report issued on Monday, said Allan was on balance a good choice in a small pool of qualified candidates.

The commissioner also noted that, while Allan and Schweitzer knew each other in passing and Allan had contributed to Schweitzer’s political campaigns, he gave money to other parties, as well.

“They were simply acquaintances in Calgary who occasionally communicated about issues such as economic strategy and flood mitigation,” said Trussler in the report, adding that Allan had seen his home destroyed in the 2013 Calgary flood.

“They were not friends and their relationship was not close.”

Trussler noted the roster of quality candidates with forensic accounting experience who were able to work within the inquiry’s then-$2.5-million budget was limited.

Schweitzer’s spokesman, Jonah Mozeson, said in a statement on Monday, “I’m glad the ethics commissioner confirmed what we always knew was true: no conflict.

“It’s unfortunate that some choose to ignore facts to tar their political opponents.”

Trussler launched the investigation after a complaint was laid late last year by a third party, Democracy Watch.

The complaint centred around Schweitzer’s role in hiring Allan, who had an office in Schweitzer’s former Calgary law firm, Dentons.

Allan was hired in July 2019 to head up the public inquiry to fulfil an election promise of Premier Jason Kenney, who has said he believes foreign funders are pulling the strings on domestic protesters to undermine Alberta’s oil and gas industry.

Trussler noted that Schweitzer was put in charge of recruiting because public inquiries fall under his mandate as justice minister.

She said that Allan had helped out on a fundraiser for Schweitzer’s failed bid for the leadership of the United Conservatives, which was won by Kenney in 2017.

Schweitzer, a one-time partner at Dentons, severed all connections to the firm after he was named justice minister in April 2019.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, questioned Trussler’s conclusions.

“The biggest glaring error is that the ethics commissioner sets out all the different things that Steve Allan did for Doug Schweitzer to help him get elected and then she ignores almost all of those things when concluding that he didn’t cross the line and it was not enough to create a conflict of interest for Schweitzer,” said Conacher.

The Canadian Press