Legislative Assembly of Alberta the 28Th Legislature Third Session

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The 28th Legislature Third Session Standing Committee on Legislative Offices Tuesday, December 2, 2014 6:17 p.m. Transcript No. 28-3-2 Legislative Assembly of Alberta The 28th Legislature Third Session Standing Committee on Legislative Offices Jeneroux, Matt, Edmonton-South West (PC), Chair Starke, Dr. Richard, Vermilion-Lloydminster (PC), Deputy Chair Bikman, Gary, Cardston-Taber-Warner (W) Blakeman, Laurie, Edmonton-Centre (AL) Brown, Dr. Neil, QC, Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill (PC) DeLong, Alana, Calgary-Bow (PC) Eggen, David, Edmonton-Calder (ND) Leskiw, Genia, Bonnyville-Cold Lake (PC) Quadri, Sohail, Edmonton-Mill Woods (PC) Wilson, Jeff, Calgary-Shaw (W) Young, Steve, Edmonton-Riverview (PC) Also in Attendance Anglin, Joe, Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre (Ind) Legislative Officers Jill Clayton Information and Privacy Commissioner Del Graff Child and Youth Advocate Peter Hourihan Ombudsman, Public Interest Commissioner Glen Resler Chief Electoral Officer Merwan Saher Auditor General Marguerite Trussler, QC Ethics Commissioner Office of the Ethics Commissioner Participants Brad Odsen, QC General Counsel and Registrar, Lobbyists Act Kent Ziegler Chief Administrative Officer Support Staff W.J. David McNeil Clerk Robert H. Reynolds, QC Law Clerk/Director of Interparliamentary Relations Shannon Dean Senior Parliamentary Counsel/ Director of House Services Philip Massolin Manager of Research Services Stephanie LeBlanc Legal Research Officer Nancy Robert Research Officer Corinne Dacyshyn Committee Clerk Jody Rempel Committee Clerk Karen Sawchuk Committee Clerk Christopher Tyrell Committee Clerk Rhonda Sorensen Manager of Corporate Communications and Broadcast Services Jeanette Dotimas Communications Consultant Tracey Sales Communications Consultant Janet Schwegel Managing Editor of Alberta Hansard Transcript produced by Alberta Hansard December 2, 2014 Legislative Offices LO-215 6:17 p.m. Tuesday, December 2, 2014 are joined by the hon. Ms Trussler, Ethics Commissioner, and Title: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 lo staff from that office. [Mr. Jeneroux in the chair] Before we begin, I’d like to point out that the decisions on the budget estimates will be made once all officers have been heard, The Chair: Perfect. All right. We’re going to call it to order. We and this has been incorporated into our Friday meeting agenda. have quorum. I’d like to welcome members, support staff, and With that, I’d like to welcome Ms Trussler, Mr. Odsen, and Mr. guests to the meeting and ask that everyone at the table introduce Ziegler. You can proceed with a 15 to 20 minute presentation, and themselves for the record. If you’re substituting for a committee we’ll remind you when you’re getting close. member, please include this information in your introduction. We’ll start with Dr. Starke. Ms Trussler: Okay. Thank you. I’ll try not to take that long. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. It’s Dr. Starke: Yes. Good evening. Richard Starke, MLA for our pleasure to be here this evening. We’re pleased to submit the Vermilion-Lloydminster and vice-chair. annual report of the office of the Ethics Commissioner for 2013- 14. I’d like to note that this report covers the period of time during Mrs. Leskiw: Genia Leskiw, MLA for Bonnyville-Cold Lake. which I was not the Ethics Commissioner. The report covers the Dr. Brown: Neil Brown, Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill. fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. As you know, I did not start my term of Ethics Commissioner until May 26, 2014. My chief Ms DeLong: Alana DeLong, Calgary-Bow. administrative officer, Mr. Ziegler, assumed his role in January of 2014, so his awareness of the operations for a major portion of the Ms Blakeman: Laurie Blakeman. I’d like to welcome you to my reporting year is also limited. With that in mind, we will do our fabulous constituency of Edmonton-Centre. best to answer any questions you may have. As you’ve all had the opportunity to read our annual report for Mr. Ziegler: Kent Ziegler, chief administrative officer, office of the year, I will only highlight a few key operational points. Our the Ethics Commissioner of Alberta. office has undertaken measures to enable those MLAs and senior Ms Trussler: Marguerite Trussler, Ethics Commissioner. officials who are so inclined the ability to submit their annual disclosure statements electronically. Some members and senior Mr. Odsen: Brad Odsen, general counsel to the office of the officials asked us to go further and create an online repository to Ethics Commissioner. help speed up the annual disclosure process and make it more accessible. However, because of security concerns we’ve opted Mr. Bikman: Gary Bikman, Cardston-Taber-Warner. not to take this additional step. We take our obligations to ensure Mr. Wilson: Jeff Wilson, Calgary-Shaw. the confidentiality of your information very seriously, so we’ve created a form which can be e-mailed to our office if the member Mrs. Sawchuk: Karen Sawchuk, committee clerk. chooses, and those who prefer to go the more secure paper route can do that as well. We’re trying to balance living securely in a The Chair: And I think we have Sohail on the phone. digital world with trying to make the process as easy to comply with as possible. Mr. Quadri: Sohail Quadri, Edmonton-Mill Woods. We’re once again pleased to advise that members and senior The Chair: Perfect. officials have co-operated with the disclosure process albeit some- what grudgingly. This year a number of senior officials refused to Mr. Quadri: I don’t know. Is something wrong with my feed? provide details of their financial holdings and in some cases the financial holdings of their spouse, citing privacy and security The Chair: Just mute. concerns or suggesting it simply was not necessary. All except one And then one more. have now complied. Full financial disclosure for spouses, while indeed invasive, is critical in enabling us to provide assurance that Mr. Young: Steve Young, MLA for Edmonton-Riverview. we have a complete picture of an individual’s finances and The Chair: Perfect. Matt Jeneroux, MLA for Edmonton-South investments and that there is no hiding of investments via a spouse’s investment account. For the record no members resisted West, chairing the committee. providing information, and it was only some senior officials who Meeting materials were posted to the internal committee misinterpreted the 1993 Fowler memo, which by its existence website last week. forms government policy in regard to them as senior officials. A few housekeeping notes before we get started. Microphone In terms of our budget this office has not seen an increase in its consoles are operated by Hansard. Please keep your BlackBerrys staffing in the last number of years, and our budget has always off the table as these can interfere with the audiofeed. been very modest. I want to assure you that I’m very frugal with Agenda. Would a member move the adoption of our agenda, respect to the use of government funds. However, it appears there please? may be introduced a bill called the accountability statutes amend- Mrs. Leskiw: I so move. ment act, and depending on exactly what that bill contains, there may be some strains on our office’s ability to assume new The Chair: Genia Leskiw moved that the agenda for the responsibility in terms of our operations under the Conflicts of December 2, 2014, meeting of the Standing Committee on Interest Act. My position may need to move from a .7 full-time Legislative Offices be approved as distributed. All in favour? Any equivalent to a .8 full-time equivalent as I am currently working at opposed? It’s carried. the .8 level, so you may see a request from me to appear before All right. We are reviewing the 2013-2014 annual reports, you again in the near future for supplemental funding if I cannot business plans, and 2015-2016 budget estimates for the officers of find ways to manage any increased workload through operational the Legislature during our meetings this week. This evening we or other efficiencies, depending on what the new legislation says. LO-216 Legislative Offices December 2, 2014 In terms of the lobbyist registry it’s been a busy year. Our infrastructure which resulted in a good portion of the costs falling lobbyist registrar, Brad Odsen, manages the registry and ensures into the 2014-15 budget year. These savings are now shown under that lobbyists understand and are following the act. I’d like to supplies in the 2015-16 year instead, in the amount of, we hope, thank all of my staff for the work that they do and the support that approximately $10,000. As our office is small, the savings from a they give me. shared IT infrastructure may not be as evident as it will be for the Now on to the budget. As you can see, there are only six areas other legislative offices on the same shared-service model. where we see any appreciable changes to our proposed budget for However, we believe that the move was worth while from an the next year. First, our salaries and wages are going to increase overall cost-saving perspective. approximately 13 per cent. The primary reason for this is that The only other item that I’d like to touch on before we go to prior to my arrival my predecessor and our general counsel had questions is the amount forecast for the 2016-17 budget for begun a classification review for his position. This involved staff technology services. Our lobbyist database IT platform has from the Public Service Commissioner’s human resources area reached the end of its life cycle and is outdated because it relies on coming and doing a review of his position and interviewing both Lotus Notes for its engine.

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