Former finance minister and local MLA Robin Campbell is under scrutiny after a public interest group filed a complaint with the ethics commissioner claiming he violated the province鈥檚 Conflict of Interest Act as the president of the Coal Association of Canada.
Progress Alberta, a non-profit advocacy group, filed the complaint April 4 claiming Campbell violated the act鈥檚 鈥渃ooling off鈥� period by lobbying the government within a year of being a provincial cabinet minister.
Campbell represented West Yellowhead and served as the minister of environment and finance in the previous Progressive Conservative government until he lost his seat to MLA Eric Rosendahl in the last provincial election. In November he was hired as the president of the Coal Association of Canada.
According to the act, a minister can not lobby a public office holder for a period of 12 months from the last day the minister held his or her position. The last provincial election was held on May 5, 2015. In a recent radio interview, Campbell mentioned his cooling off period expires May 24.
鈥淭he cooling off period is there so former cabinet ministers, like Robin Campbell, can鈥檛 take advantage of their privileged position as a former public office holder in order to privately benefit,鈥� said Duncan Kinney, executive director for Progress Alberta.
鈥淲e think and we believe that there is a case here that he鈥檚 violated the terms of his cooling off period.鈥�
According to Kinney, over the past few months Campbell has travelled to various communities across the province and spoken to the media urging people to contact public office holders in an attempt to influence them to either amend or terminate the government鈥檚 plan to phase out coal.
The problem is, according to Kinney, this is in violation of the Lobbyist Act, which considers this to be a form of grassroots communication.
As recently as March 22, Campbell spoke at the Hinton Chamber of Commerce warning the local business community what could happen if the coal industry fails.
According to the Hinton Parklander, he encouraged people to contact West Yellowhead MLA Eric Rosendahl to 鈥渟tand up鈥� and voice their concerns to stop coal mines from closing.
He also told the audience that once a carbon tax is in place, prices for food, clothes and other products will increase.
Campbell was unavailable for comment, according to Sarah Hamilton, communication director for the Coal Association of Canada.
鈥淚n regards to the complaint to the ethics commissioner we can鈥檛 comment on that right now because the complaint is still in process and we want to respect the process of the ethics commissioner.
鈥淥nce it鈥檚 resolved we鈥檇 be happy to comment on it.鈥�
The office of the ethics commissioner neither confirmed nor denied if an investigation is being conducted, but Kinney said he had a meeting with the commissioner on April 11.
鈥淚 hope we have a full and thorough investigation by the ethics commissioner to really settle the question that I鈥檓 raising,鈥� said Kinney.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think an issue like this has ever actually been decided on or ruled upon and I think it needs to be clear for both cabinet ministers and former senior staff what actually constitutes lobbying so they can better follow the act in the future.鈥�
If the commissioner investigates Campbell and finds he violated the Conflict of Interest Act he could face a fine of up to $50,000.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
