Pallister needed to reveal Costa Rican holdings earlier than he did, say NDP

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This article was published 25/09/2017 (2945 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A New Democratic Party MLA says Premier Brian Pallister was breaking provincial conflict-of-interest rules until he “voluntarily” listed his corporate holdings in Costa Rica on a public disclosure form, shortly after the last provincial election.

Andrew Swan bases his claim on a written opinion he recently received from Jeffrey Schnoor, Manitoba’s conflict-of-interest commissioner.

Swan had to pose questions hypothetically to the commissioner because provincial rules prevent an MLA from asking him questions about the affairs of another member of the house.

Last month, Schnoor, after receiving assurances from Swan that he was seeking the information for his own personal use, wrote that an MLA who owns five per cent or more of a company must publicly disclose the name of that corporation.

“The jurisdiction in which it is incorporated does not affect that obligation,” Schnoor wrote.

Days before the April 19, 2016, general election, Pallister said he had complied with public disclosure rules after a Costa Rican newspaper reported a public-records search showed Pallister owned several parcels of land in the Central American country through a holding company. He also was listed as owning two vehicles through a second company.

Pallister issued a statement at the time saying he owned four parcels of land there, including the one that contains his vacation home. He said he conducted “no business activity” in Costa Rica, nor did he own any “revenue-generating property.” The other parcels of land were described as pasture and grassland.

Pallister did not list the corporations with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly until May 2016 — and then did so only as an “additional voluntary disclosure” on a separate page tacked onto the back of the form all MLAs are required to fill out.

At that time, he said his Costa Rican holdings were not subject to provincial MLA disclosure rules, “as per advice received by” the conflict-of-interest commissioner . He said he was including them simply in the interest of “greater openness and transparency.”

It’s not clear whether Pallister was referring to advice from Schnoor, who became conflict-of-interest commissioner in January 2016, or his predecessor, Ron Perozzo. If he had asked for a written opinion, that would have been made public.

On Friday, Pallister urged an all-party review of political party and candidate disclosure rules in light of new information about NDP Leader Wab Kinew’s past.

The premier said it’s worth looking into whether candidates and parties should be required to disclose past criminal charges and convictions when a candidate seeks office.

“The premier wants us to believe that he’s all about openness and transparency but we have a premier who for years refused to disclose the existence of corporations that any reasonable review of the Act… (would have shown) must be disclosed,” Swan said.

“The conflict-of-interest commissioner (in his opinion for Swan) did nothing more than state the law, which is in Manitoba if you own a corporation which has a value of more than $500 for all the shares that you own, it’s your obligation to report it,” he continued.

“The premier had an obligation to report the value of that corporation. He only made a “voluntary” disclosure after he was found out.”

Chisholm Pothier, a spokesman for Pallister, said whether the premier is required to disclose the Costa Rican corporations is now “irrelevant.”

“The disclosure was made on the understanding it was voluntary at the time,” Pothier said in an email Monday. “If the conflict-of-interest commissioner now deems it’s a requirement, that gives (the situation) even more transparency and we agree. However, it doesn’t affect the Premier’s situation given he had already disclosed.”

Schnoor said he was unable to comment on how his written opinion to Swan may apply to Pallister or any other MLA.

“It wouldn’t be right for me to do that,” he said.

Schnoor said he meets with all MLAs at the beginning of each new session of the legislature. MLAs can call him for advice at any time, he added.

Swan said if Pallister did seek verbal advice from Schnoor or his predecessor, it should have been clear to him that he had to disclose his Costa Rica-based corporations.

“I think either the premier was mistaken in the advice he received or the premier simply didn’t give the commissioners the information they would need to give him the right advice,” he said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca