Premier Danielle Smith and her ministers probably didn’t break any rules by accepting those hockey tickets, for a simple reason.
These rules are almost impossible to break.
Alberta’s limits on handouts to politicians are the loosest in the country. In some cases there’s literally no limit to the value of gifts they can accept.
All the politicians have to do is claim a gift stems from a “social obligation.”
Smith has said it was almost her legal social duty to be in a Rogers Place skybox cheering for the Oilers.
In case there was any doubt about it, she only has to refer to a “Guide to Gifts” released by the ethics office when Marguerite Trussler was still commissioner, although soon to be replaced by former deputy minister Shawn McLeod.
The Guide reflects radical changes to ethics law that the UCP jammed through the legislature late last year.
The Guide to Gifts states: “Tickets or invitations to major Alberta sports, culture and economic events may also fit within the social obligation exception.”
Also, “The Act and regulations no longer contain monetary limits on the value of tickets and invitations to events that may be accepted by members.”
All that is most convenient. The market value of a luxury skybox seat for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final was probably thousands of dollars. One site reported that the cheapest ticket available in Rogers Place was $1,896.
The Guide says a politician can still violate the law by accepting tickets or invitations “that are not an incident of protocol or social obligation.”
But what exactly is a “social obligation”? The definition is so vague as to be meaningless. It refers to “a matter of gratitude or courtesy appropriate to the occasion, typically when a member is attending an event in the member’s official capacity.”
The premier seems to argue that the event was so important that attending and cheering was official business.
Will new commissioner McLeod disagree? That’s highly doubtful under a law masterfully crafted to allow politicians to accept very expensive gifts.
The Guide to Gifts also contains some vivid examples of rules in other provinces and Ottawa, showing how much tougher many of them are.
I suspect this was a farewell from flinty-eyed Trussler, the only commissioner in years who dared to take on a premier directly (over Smith’s phone call to her justice minister regarding COVID prosecutions.)
In Ontario, accepting sports event tickets is strictly prohibited unless the legislature member is scheduled to speak or has a clear official role.
In B.C., “It is not considered permissible for a member to accept tickets in a company’s box suite at a major sporting event.” There are limited exemptions if the government has provided funding.
Federal law prohibits MPs from accepting gifts worth more than $40 from industry stakeholders and registered lobbyists.
In Alberta, the limit on such gifts is now $500, as long as they fall through the trapdoor of “social obligation.”
There is no limit to the travel expenses or fee payments Alberta MLAs can accept to attend conferences or meetings anywhere on earth.
Finally, an Alberta MP, minister or premier can accept any amount of money from their own constituency association, their political party, a registered charity, or any level of government in Canada.
“In these cases it is not necessary to check with the ethics commissioner,” say the Guide to Gifts.
Technically, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could send every UCP MLA a gift of $100,000 to say something nice about federal climate policy.
Or an Alberta riding association could pay cash to an MLA who promised not to run again.
Smith and her cabinet crew surely knew there’s no way a commissioner, by whatever name, would sanction them for taking box-seat tickets during the Oilers playoff run.
Hockey tickets may only be the start.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
X: @DonBraid