As I wrote earlier this week, only hours before the March 3 election was called Tory leader Ed Stelmach and his cabinet changed the date that Alberta’s new conflict-of-interest legislation take effect. This change means that the tougher conflict-of-interest rules don’t apply to retiring or defeated Tory cabinet ministers and MLAs.
A quick look back in time shows that when former Tory leader Ralph Klein implemented new conflict-of-interest rules he did so over three months before the 1993 election, instead of waiting until after the election. I didn’t think that this is what Ed Stelmach meant when he started trying to distance himself from Klein…
The timing of the change raises some important questions:
Which cabinet ministers supported this decision? Did retiring cabinet ministers Lyle Oberg and Greg Melchin participate or influence this decision?
Which cabinet ministers believed that their fellow Tories shouldn’t been held to account under the new rules?
Does 37-years in power give you the right to decide that your friends are above the rules?
These are only some of the questions that Albertans shouldn’t hesitate to ask their Progressive Conservative candidates, MLAs, and cabinet ministers. Albertans deserve to know the answers.
Albertans deserve better from their elected representatives. Albertans deserve better from their government.
