EDMONTON — Democracy Watch has asked Alberta’s ethics commissioner to investigate the appointment of Steve Allan to the government’s public inquiry after it was revealed he’d campaigned for a cabinet minister.

In the summer, Allan was appointed as commissioner of the public inquiry into allegations of a foreign funded campaign to landlock Alberta energy resources.

Democracy Watch, a Canadian non-profit organization advocating for democratic reform, sent a letter to Alberta ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler on Wednesday outlining concerns that Allan’s appointment could be a conflict of interest.

Several CBC stories drew connections between Allan having campaigned for Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer while he was campaigning to be a UCP nominee in 2018. Allan also made a $1,000 contribution to Schweitzer during his bid for leadership of the party in 2017.

Later, after the UCP took power, Allan effectively received the appointment from Schweitzer with a $290,000 paycheque attached.

A spokesperson from Schweitzer’s office categorically denied that Allan’s appointment had to do with anything but his qualifications. But that doesn’t hold water with Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch.

“The situation amounts to a clear violation by Minister Schweitzer improperly furthering the interests of Steve Allan,” he said.

“Steve Allan supported him in his campaign with not just donations, but actual assistance with an event and spreading the word and urging people to vote for him.”

However, in an emailed statement, Jonah Mozeson, a spokesperson for Schweitzer, said “All Albertans have the right to donate to political parties and support political candidates.”

Mozeson said Allan was appointed because of his 40 years of experience as a forensic accountant.

“It’s frankly ridiculous to suggest that donating one-forth of the maximum allowable amount over two years ago or volunteering during a nomination campaign somehow secures an appointment,” he said.

It’s the second letter Democracy Watch has sent seeking an investigation, but the first’s destination was the RCMP earlier this month. The organization was also seeking a probe into whether the firing of Election Commissioner Lorne Gibson through Bill 22 amounted to obstruction of justice.

Also on Wednesday, Alberta’s Opposition NDP sent a letter of their own regarding Bill 22, an omnibus bill that effectively fired former Election Commissioner Lorne Gibson — an election watchdog who had been probing Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party.

Over the past year, the commissioner has levied hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines against UCP faithful for offences ranging from illicit campaign donations to obstructing an investigation.

The NDP’s letter asked for an investigation into several MLAs and cabinet ministers who have been involved with incidents having been investigated by the election commissioner or who had been interviewed by the RCMP during its own probe into the 2017 UCP leadership race.

“We believe that the premier and his caucus colleagues breached the conflict of interest act when they developed the legislation or took part in the vote that passed Bill 22,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley at a press conference.

“The passing of this bill, effectively firing the person conducting active investigation into these matters, is a gross violation of the rule of law.”

A spokesperson from Government House Leader Jason Nixon’s office said in an emailed statement that “the NDP Leader continues to cast baseless aspersions on Alberta’s duly-elected representatives.”

“Any MLA will of course reply to the ethics commissioner, on this or any matter, should they be contacted,” the spokesperson said.

The 21-page letter was developed with her caucus and outside legal council, Notley said.

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It lays out an argument for why several cabinet ministers and MLAs may have furthered private interests by being part of the process which saw Bill 22 brought forward and passed.

The election commissioner’s office was folded into the chief electoral officer’s jurisdiction through Bill 22. The Chief Electoral Officer, Glen Resler, said his office would continue with the investigations it inherited from Gibson’s former office.

Since independent officers don’t comment publicly on investigations, it’s unclear how many are underway currently.

The investigations spurred by Gibson’s former office include the kamikaze probe, which has seen around $200,000 in fines levelled against several party faithful, such as former UCP leadership contestant Jeff Callaway, who has been slapped with about $70,000 in fines since allegations surfaced against him in 2018.

According to documents leaked to Star Edmonton, Callaway ran a kamikaze campaign in the 2017 UCP leadership race on behalf of Kenney’s campaign team in order to act as a proxy — attacking Kenney’s biggest rival, former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean.

Callaway has applied for a judicial review in court over the fines levelled against him and is set to have his case heard in September, 2020.

The RCMP has been carrying out a separate investigation into the 2017 UCP leadership race over allegations of identity fraud during the voting process, also levied against Kenney’s camp.

Furthermore, in August, Star Edmonton revealed the commissioner’s office had opened up an investigation into allegations Kenney and his campaign team may have solicited contributions in kind that amounted to more than $20,000 — accusations which, if true, could violate election laws in the province. The alleged events occurred in 2017 and 2018 when Kenney was campaigning, but the party and Kenney himself have denied any wrongdoing.

There’s also been an investigation into allegations of bribery regarding UCP MLA Peter Singh by the office.

When the bill was before the house, Notley said Singh should have recused himself.

As for implications of an ethics commissioner investigation, Notley said Trussler only has the power to make recommendations to the legislature.

In November, the NDP had quickly drawn up a letter and sent it to Trussler’s office seeking intervention when Bill 22 was introduced. At the time, Trussler said more information would be needed for her to open an investigation.

“If Justin Trudeau had fired the ethics commissioner looking into the SNC-Lavalin case, the world would understand how corrupt that was,” said Notley.

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