Alberta NDP learns to backtrack faster than a failing fundraiser
Sarah Hoffman is sworn in as the Alberta Minister of Health and Seniors in Edmonton on Sunday, May 24, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Alberta NDP learns to backtrack faster than a failing fundraiser
here’s nothing in politics like a good free-for-all over party fundraising.
The one that hit the Alberta legislature Thursday was a classic of its kind, the first case anybody can recall of a cabinet minister defending a dubious fundraising event, and apologizing for it abjectly only seconds later.
That what Health Minister Sarah Hoffman did, after being handed a panicked note from the premier’s office.
The NDP had been caught red-handed by the Wildrose party after Premier Rachel Notley’s party advertised a chance to meet the premier and cabinet for money.
An ad on the party’s website said: “Join Premier Rachel Notley, cabinet, and MLAs for the evening to discuss issues facing the province that are important to you.”
And oh yes, bring $250. You’ll get a tax chit for $187.50.
The principle here, clearly established by Alberta’s ethics commissioners, is that party fundraising events should be presented as purely party affairs with no link to government, and certainly no hint of influence for sale.
Ex-premier Ed Stelmach walked into that booby-trap in 2007 with a fundraiser meant to pay off PC leadership campaign debts. So great was the fuss that he cancelled the event and the money was repaid, which saved him from an ethics citation.
Now Wildrose demands the same from the NDP; repay everyone who has bought tickets, and call off the event set for Nov. 26 at the Stampede grounds.
But the party merely apologized, via the squirming minister, and changed the wording of the ad. Now it says: “Join Rachel Notley and her team for the evening to discuss issues that are important to you.”
The premier’s spokesperson, Cheryl Oates, said the premier’s office approached Ethics Commissioner Marguerite Trussler on Thursday afternoon for an opinion about the advertisement and possible repayment.
Oates says the commissioner felt the ad should definitely be changed, but didn’t call for cancellation of the event or return of the money. Trussler wasn’t available to comment.
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