Editorials

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Remove stonewalls, Mr. Doer

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 06/17/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

(DALE CUMMINGS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Manitobans deserve to know why the NDP escaped prosecution under the Elections Financing Act when it was allowed to quietly repay rebates it wrongly claimed in the 1999 election campaign.
Indeed, the NDP had been claiming such "expenses" in elections over 15 years, but a full repayment was not pursued. Unfortunately, the only person who can account for these decisions by Elections Manitoba is refusing to explain them.

And as an officer of the legislative assembly, Chief Electoral Officer Richard Balasko is not subject to the freedom of information legislation, the refuge of last resort for citizens who are stonewalled in the search of information.

This irony should be a source of deep embarrassment -- the chief electoral officer, the ombudsman, the children's advocate, all watchdogs of government, are themselves beyond the reach of the legislation that underpins the rights of citizens to transparent, accountable government.

The lack of disclosure is bringing Mr. Balasko and his office into disrepute. There are compelling reasons for Manitobans to be suspicious of the decision not to charge the NDP, which won the 1999 election. The party's practice of changing expense claims filed by candidates' finance officers was underhanded not just in substance -- donations in kind were altered to be recorded as expenses because donations do not trigger a rebate, while expenses do -- but also in the fact that some of those finance officers did not know records they were legally responsible for were altered. The NDP had done so since the mid-1980s. All of this was known to elections officials, according to correspondence from a forensic auditor hired for the investigation.

It is reasonable for voters to wonder why none of this was pursued vigorously by elections officials, but Mr. Balasko won't speak publicly and refuses to release documents pertinent to the decisions. The Tories are considering a court suit to shake the information loose, an expensive avenue of redress that would be unnecessary if Elections Manitoba were subject to freedom of information laws.

Most jurisdictions in Canada similarly exclude officers of legislative assemblies, ignoring the hypocrisy inherent in protecting the watchdogs of a democratic system. Saskatchewan's information commissioner has told public bodies excluded under its legislation to act as if they were subject to information laws. That's a fine gesture in the spirit of transparency, but citizens deserve their rights protected by the force of law, not goodwill.

In 2007, the Harper government recognized at least that much in making a number of public bodies subject to access to information legislation, including Elections Canada. The rational was that any office that is funded publicly and spends public money ought to be open to public scrutiny.

Premier Gary Doer has dodged the tough questions in this scandal by repeatedly stating he relies on the integrity and independence of the chief electoral officer to do the right thing. But the independence to exercise the powers of the office must be checked by a duty to be accountable to voters. Mr. Doer continues to ignore demands for an inquiry to clear the air over a scandal, a political move that does real damage to Elections Manitoba. This affair makes abundantly clear why officers of the legislature must be subject to freedom of information laws.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 17, 2009 A14

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