NDP Accountability Priorities- Backgrounder

Katz Clause
Insert a new clause under section 17(1) of Elections Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act that reads:
No person or entity shall
(a) circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, a limit set out for maximum contributions or
(b) act in collusion with another person or entity for that purpose.
No person or entity shall
(a) conceal, or attempt to conceal, the identity of the source of a contribution governed by this
Act; or
(b) act in collusion with another person or entity for that purpose.
This clause was drafted in accordance with section 405.2 of the Canada Elections Act (Part 18 - Division 2 General Financial Provisions).
Berger Clause
Amend Section 31 of the Conflicts of Interest Act by changing the length of the ministerial cooling off period to
two years, so that section 31(1) reads:
31(1) Except in accordance with subsection (3), a former Minister shall not, for a period of 24 months
after ceasing to be a member of the Executive Council.
Strike section 31(3) from the Conflicts of Interest Act.
These amendments are based on a proposed amendment by the British Columbia NDP to the existing
Members Conflict of Interest Act in British Columbia, specifically Motion 209 moved by Shane Simpson
(Vancouver-Hastings).
Dirks Clause
Insert a new section under Part 6 of the Elections Act (Corrupt Practices) that reads:
1. During the following periods, a government department or Crown agency must not advertise or publish
any information about its programs or activities:
(a) in the last 90 days before election day and on election day, in the case of a fixed date election,

(b) in the election period, in the case of a by-election or a general election that is not a fixed date
election.
Exceptions
The above section 1 does not apply to an advertisement or a publication
(a) that is required by law,
(b) that is required at that time
(i) to solicit proposals or tenders for contracts or applications for employment with a
government department or Crown agency, or
(ii) because it relates to important matters of public health or safety,
(c) that, in the case of a Crown agency, is in continuation of earlier advertisements or publications and
is required at that time for ongoing programs of the agency, or
(d) that, during the election period of a by-election,
(i) is in continuation of earlier publications or advertisements and is required for ongoing
programs of a government department, or
(ii) deals with a matter before the Assembly during the election period of a by-election, such as
the throne speech, the budget, the introduction or passage of a bill or an order or resolution of
the Assembly.
These clauses were drafted based on section 92 of Manitobas Election Financing Act.
Redford Clause
Insert a new clause under section 2(2) of the Conflicts of Interest Act that reads:
For the purposes of this Act, a member has an apparent conflict of interest if there is a reasonable
perception, which a reasonably well informed person could properly have, that the member's ability to
exercise an official power or perform an official duty or function must have been affected by his or her
private interest.
And insert a new section 1(5)(f):
any person or persons in a relationship with the Member which a reasonable person would conclude is
a proximate political or business advisory relationship or with whom the Member shares a closely
aligned personal or business interests.
The former is language based on the British Columbia Members Conflict of Interest Act and similar clauses
exist in other jurisdictions, including Saskatchewan. The latter is derived from deficiencies noted in the Alberta
Act when it was reviewed by the Select Special Conflicts of Interest Act Review Committee in 2013.
Sandhu Clause
Insert a new clause under section 1(1)(g)(iv) of the Conflicts of Interest Act that reads:

An interest that affects a person as one of a broad class of the public, except where
(a) the Member, a person directly associated with the Member, or the Members minor or adult child,
gains a direct benefit exceeding other members of the class, or where
(b) the activities of the Member exceed that of other Members and are so closely linked to the interest
of the Member, a person directly associated with the Member or the Members minor or adult child
that it gives rise to the perception of a conflict of interest by a reasonable person.
This clause was based on recommendations that arose from the Special Conflicts of Interest Act Review
Committee when it reviewed the Act in 2013, particularly in discussion on how to strengthen the legislation in
regards to the Peter Sandhu case.
PC Party Clause
Amend section 52(1)(3) of the Elections Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act as follows:
A prosecution under this Act may be commenced within 5 years after the facts on which the
information is based first came to the knowledge of the Chief Electoral Officer.
These limitations periods were derived to take into account, at minimum, a typical election cycle. The latter
clause was drafted to include the requirement that the Chief Electoral Officer be aware of the possibility of an
offence before the limitation period begins to run, which exists in Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
The Building Alberta Clause
Passing legislation that compels the government to publicly disclose criteria for determining public
infrastructure investment priorities, a clear public infrastructure priority list, and a detailed explanation for
changing the priority list when that occurs.
The Friends and Insiders Clause
Amend the conflict of interests act so that public officials who are subject to both the act and the authority of
the ethics commissioner include those who run major government organizations including the Alberta Energy
Regulator and Alberta Health Services.
The All Cattle, No Hat Clause
During the leadership race, Prentice promised to limit severances and sole-sourced contracts in legislation. The
NDP would ensure that these limits are in legislation, not in a Treasury Board directive
-30For more information, please contact:
Cheryl Oates, Communications Officer: 587-990-7387 or
cheryl.oates@assembly.ab.ca