More info on MLA holdings revealed to public
SASKATOON Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe owned shares in a numbered corporation that controls rental properties and an Albertabased restaurant company, and a second numbered corporation with assets totalling less than $10,000.
Crown Investments Corp. Minister Joe Hargrave, meanwhile, had shares in three numbered companies — two that own shares in separate Dodge vehicle dealerships, and a third that does not currently have any assets.
Moe and Hargrave are just two examples of Saskatchewan politicians with investments in numbered corporations, which can be used as holding companies or as the legal basis for a stand-alone business. Until recently, those companies’ assets were disclosed to the province’s conflict czar but not to the general public.
That changed this spring when Conflict of Interest Commissioner Ron Barclay asked — and the province’s politicians agreed — to publicly disclose assets owned by numbered companies. Now, Barclay wants to formalize that arrangement.
“The feeling was (when the Members’ Conflict of Interest Act was passed in 1993) as long as I knew, then the public was protected, to ensure that there wasn’t any conflict,” Barclay said Tuesday.
“However, as the years passed, I think the philosophy was, ‘That’s not very transparent.’ The press raised it with me a couple of years ago and I revisited it, and I thought that there should be transparency.”
In his annual report, published last month, Barclay recommended information about assets held by numbered companies contained in MLAS private disclosure statements be added to their public disclosures, which are available online. Barclay ’s recommendation comes just over a year after CBC News published a story raising concerns about private and numbered corporations controlled by politicians, and suggesting a lack of transparency could lead to a lack of trust.
“I can determine whether there’s a conflict or not. But I think, if I see it, it’s only fair that the public should see it … The public really has a right to know what I’m relying on,” he said, noting that all MLAS volunteered to disclose the information.
In an emailed statement, Justice Minister Don Morgan said information about assets, including those held by private companies, is already voluntarily disclosed by MLAS in their public disclosure statements.
“However, Mr. Barclay’s recommendation to formalize this practice will be taken into consideration as we routinely review legislation,” Morgan wrote.
In a separate statement, Moe’s press secretary Jim Billington said Moe divested himself of all interests in private companies reported on his last disclosure statement after becoming premier, to avoid any perceived conflict.
“This divestment will be reflected on his next disclosure to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner,” Billington said.
Barclay said he cannot recall an instance over his eight years as conflict commissioner in which assets held by a numbered corporation created a conflict of interest for a sitting politician.