Canada: Ethics Investigation Won''t Stall Tobacco Lawsuit, Alberta Justice Minister Insists

Source from:  Edmonton (Alberta) Journal (ca)  01/10/2013

Alberta's justice minister says the province will keep pursuing a $10-billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry, despite calls from the Wildrose party to change how it handles the case in light of an ethics investigation.

Alberta Ethics Commissioner Neil Wilkinson notified provincial opposition leaders in a Jan. 4 letter that he will investigate complaints they filed against Premier Alison Redford in late November.

Those complaints centre on whether Redford was in a conflict of interest when she was justice minister for her role evaluating which law firms the province should hire to pursue the lawsuit against big tobacco. The province wants to recover health-care costs related to tobacco use.

Redford's ex-husband, a political ally of the premier, is a partner in a Calgary firm that is part of the International Tobacco Recovery Lawyers.

That consortium of law firms won the contract to represent the province in the case.

Redford has fiercely denied any wrongdoing and said she did not make the final decision on the contract.

Wildrose justice critic Shayne Saskiw said Tuesday that until the ethics investigation is complete and the premier is cleared, lawyers from Alberta Justice should represent the province's case in court rather than the legal team awarded the contract.

"The fact is the premier's refused to disclose all of the requests for proposals," Saskiw said. "So we don't know whether Albertans got the best deal. Until we know whether Albertans got the best deal and we have all the information, that firm should not be retained on this file."

Justice Minister Jonathan Denis said Tuesday that he believes Saskiw's comments are a Wildrose tactic to obstruct litigation against the tobacco industry.

The government determined that Alberta Justice did not have the expertise to pursue the case on its own, Denis said. Instead, they picked the lowest bidder to represent the province in a competitive process, he said.

"I would see no reason to suspend the case," Denis said. "If anything, I think that would compromise taxpayers' position in this lawsuit."

Brad Odsen, general counsel to the office of the ethics commissioner, said Wilkinson made the decision to investigate the allegations against Redford in mid-December. He alerted Redford at that time.

Odsen said the office hopes to complete the investigation as soon as possible, but could not put a time frame on the work.

If the ethics commissioner finds evidence of a conflict, he can recommend sanctions by the legislature.

Those sanctions could range from a written reprimand to advice to expel the member from the assembly. While the ethics commissioner can make recommendations, "what is actually imposed rests with the assembly," Odsen said. Enditem