Bill would suspend ethics investigations during provincial election campaigns
Suspending ethics commissioner investigations during election campaigns and easing government's ability to change value limits on gifts MLAS are allowed to receive are among the changes proposed in Alberta's Bill 8.
The Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2023 would amend the province's Conflicts of Interest Act and five other pieces of legislation, if enacted. It passed first reading in the legislature on Thursday after being introduced by Justice Minister Mickey Amery.
The bill outlines how investigations by the ethics commissioner would be suspended when the writs of election are issued, potentially for as long as the completion of recounts, including legal appeals.
The government's news release says the intent is to “keep unproven allegations from influencing the democratic process.”
Amery told reporters that he doesn't believe the changes would keep potentially politically damaging information from voters.
“That's certainly not the intention,” he said. “The amendments are designed to incorporate the recommendations that the ethics commissioner herself provided to us.”
Writing in her May 17 report that found Premier Danielle Smith broke ethics rules, Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler recommended the Act be changed “to provide for a stay on any ongoing investigation.”
“Not having such a provision puts the Ethics Commissioner and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in an extremely difficult position,” her report reads.
It was published 12 days before election day last May, and came hours before the televised leaders debate later that evening.
Opposition Justice Critic Irfan Sabir called the legislation “self-serving and unethical,” and said it makes it so “the premier or anyone else in her cabinet and caucus can't be held accountable if she's found breaking the law right before the election.”
The bill also changes how dollar limits and rules for gifts received can be changed by governments.
Under the bill, those rules would become regulations and any future changes to those limits would not be reviewed by an Mla-led committee which produces a subsequent public report.