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1/ Thread: Who is Lorne Gibson, and why did @jkenney fire him?
There's so much more to the story that no one's really talking about.
I'll start.
There's so much more to the story that no one's really talking about.
I'll start.
2/ Lorne Gibson is Alberta's Elections Commissioner. Previously, he was Alberta's Chief Electoral Officer. He is a renowned expert in elections management and consults, teaches, researches and advises on everything related to elections.
Source: https://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/sites/default/files/2016-12-12_white_paper_independence_and_accountability_enwt.pdf
Source: https://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/sites/default/files/2016-12-12_white_paper_independence_and_accountability_enwt.pdf
3/ I don't think anyone can really dispute his qualifications at all. But the man has already been let go once previously, after Alberta's 2008 election, also known as "our worst-run election ever". https://albertaviews.ca/worst-run-election-ever/
4/ Gibson was the Chief Elections Officer in 2008, who presided over our "Worst-run Election Ever". After the election was over, he issued 180 recommendations to improve elections in Alberta. One of those recommendations was as follows:
https://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/combinedFINAL.pdf
https://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/combinedFINAL.pdf
5/ In my opinion, there are plenty of good suggestions in this report, many of which have been implemented, however the government of the day didn't see it that way. It appears the government wanted an effective administrator, not a consultant to perform gap analysis.
6/ The term of a Chief Electoral Officer extends to one year past an election, in which case the person's tenure can be renewed. In 2009, the Stelmach government simply chose not to renew their contract with Gibson. https://theprovince.com/news/no-new-contract-for-chief-electoral-officer/wcm/f57b87ae-bb12-46f4-b4b3-990978a30532
7/ It's deja vu all over again. Reading that article, we see Rachel Notley as being pro-Gibson, whereas Conservative MLA Thomas Lukaszuk had this to say:
8/ After being let go, Gibson filed a lawsuit against the government for wrongful dismissal. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/fired-chief-electoral-officer-sues-province-of-alberta/article569915/
9/ We will find out later that the lawsuit was unsuccessful. Gibson failed to win his case. Gibson thought he was doing a good thing by highlighting performance issues, whereas the government of the day wanted someone who could execute the duties of their office.
10/ In 2012, Gibson re-appeared in the Calgary Herald to defend himself against further allegations. He actually said some very, very interesting things. https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/ex-electoral-officer-lorne-gibsons-full-shredding-of-pc-claims-he-wanted-secrecy
11/ Gibson was saying that because allegations of wrongdoing can be vexatious and baseless, and this can affect elections. Therefore some level of privacy is expected, up to a point. He's saying that the investigation powers of the office can be weaponized as political ammo.
12/ We've seen this before. As @RobBreakenridge wrote about in 2018 - the NDP tried to unleash the Ethics Commissioner on @jkenney 's trip to India, only to have the EO scold the NDP for trying to use the office to "score political points". https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/breakenridge-alberta-ndp-is-miffed-by-its-own-pac-rules
13/ But getting back to the timeline of events. After Gibson's 2012 article, Glen Resler was appointed by the Hancock government on March 13, 2014 to Gibson's previous role as Chief Elections Officer.
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/Announcements/NewsReleases/2014/NewsRelease_CEOswearingin_2014.pdf
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/Announcements/NewsReleases/2014/NewsRelease_CEOswearingin_2014.pdf
14/ Less than a week after Glen Resler's appointment as Chief Electoral Officer, Premier Alison Redford announced her resignation. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/alison-redford-resigns-as-premier-of-alberta-1.1737226
15/ Lorne Gibson kind of disappears from Alberta' for several years. In that time, the NDP forms government, and in 2017 announced Bill 32: An Act to Protect And Strengthen Democracy in Alberta. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_29/session_3/20170302_bill-032.pdf
16/ Bill 32 was not an entirely bad piece of legislation. The best part was extending the advance voting times, and being able to vote at any polling station. However, the way the bill was introduced left many people feeling as though the NDP was being a bit rammy.
17/ For example, Bill 32 was introduced near the end of the legislative session, which is something you do when you want to constrain debate. For example go and read The Hansard for Dec 12, 2017, starting with Loewen's words on page 2645: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_29/session_3/20171212_0900_01_han.pdf
18/ A week prior to this debate on Bill 32, Glen Resler (Chief Electoral Officer) wrote a letter to Christina Gray, Minister of Democratic Renewal, expressing concerns about the bill. Moreover, Resler said that he was not consulted on the proposed changes. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/ndp-bill-has-unintended-consequences-for-elections-chief-electoral-officer
19/ This is definitely bizarre. Why would the NDP want to ram through a significant bill on electoral reform, at the last minute, without adequate consultation from the Chief Electoral Officer? As Loewen pointed out on page 2466 of The Hansard: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_29/session_3/20171212_0900_01_han.pdf
20/ And, going back to tweet 4 in this thread, why did Bill 32 not follow Gibson's 2009 recommendation to vest the Chief Electoral Officer with Investigative powers? Why did the NDP instead create a redundant office? http://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_29/session_3/20171212_0900_01_han.pdf
21/ Immediately after passing Bill 32, the selection of a candidate was referred to the Standing Committee on Legislative Offices. The committee debate can be found here: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/committees/lo/legislature_29/session_4/20180405_1701_01_lo.pdf
22/ Go to Page LO-418 and read Mr. Gill's comments:
23/ If you have the time, read the whole debate carefully. The minority members of the committee had serious misgivings about the candidate choice: none other than Lorne Gibson. There were concerns of possible baggage, leading to potential bias.
24/ in April 2018, Standing Committee on Legislative Offices issued its Report on the Recommendation for the Appointment of an Election
Commissioner. Appendix A has the Minority Member's report of how that all went down. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/committees/PastReports/2018/Election%20Commissioner%20Recommendation%20Report.pdf
Commissioner. Appendix A has the Minority Member's report of how that all went down. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/committees/PastReports/2018/Election%20Commissioner%20Recommendation%20Report.pdf
25/ To recap:
- The NDP arguably rammed through a major bill on electoral reform
- They did little to no consultation
- Instead of giving the Chief Electoral Officer greater investigative powers, they created a redundant office of the Electoral Commisioner...
- The NDP arguably rammed through a major bill on electoral reform
- They did little to no consultation
- Instead of giving the Chief Electoral Officer greater investigative powers, they created a redundant office of the Electoral Commisioner...
26/ ...
- The candidate selection process was arguably biased
- There were other equally suitable candidates without baggage
- The guy the NDP picks is the one with previous baggage.
- The candidate selection process was arguably biased
- There were other equally suitable candidates without baggage
- The guy the NDP picks is the one with previous baggage.
27/ in May, 2018, the UCP opposed the appointment of Lorne Gibson to the newly created position, and the NDP accused the UCP of attacking Gibson personally. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/hire-of-election-commissioner-sparks-debate-due-to-past-controversy
28/ You're probably wondering why, if the NDP wanted to strengthen democracy, they created an office separate from the Electoral Officer, whose sole purpose was to investigate complaints, then appoint a person who has good reason to be a thorn in the side of the UPC.
29/ Go back to Bill 32, and look at this part, and ask yourself how this office could easily be abused for political gain. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_29/session_3/20170302_bill-032.pdf
30/ Remember tweet 10, where Gibson stated that while he felt it was fair to disclose the *results* of an investigation, he did not think it was fair to disclose too much detail about *ongoing* investigations. https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/ex-electoral-officer-lorne-gibsons-full-shredding-of-pc-claims-he-wanted-secrecy
31/ Bill 32 gave the Elections Commissioner some extraordinary powers, such as being able to enter a constituency office or premises and have political parties open up their books. (Entering a private dwelling required a court order).
32/ While I get that the NDP were trying to "get big money out of politics", the nature of the letters of reprimand issued by the Electoral Commissioner really make one question the marginal benefits versus costs of this Office.
33/ For example, go to the Electoral Commission website and look up "Letters of Reprimand". It looks like these were issued to both NDP and UCP folks. https://albertaelectioncommissioner.ca/lor-oc-2018
34/ Like, seriously, how does it help democracy to spend $1 million on an office that hunts down over-contributions that rarely even eclipse the triple digit mark? Is this not evidence of petty or vexatious complaints being legitimized by an over-zealous Commissioner?
35/ Going back to the text of Bill 32, the Commissioner must give adequate notice to, and time for, a person to respond to the allegations against them. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_29/session_3/20170302_bill-032.pdf
36/ Read that again:"The Election Commissioner shall not make an adverse finding against a person or organization unless that person or organization has had reasonable notice of the substance of the allegations and a reasonable opportunity to present his or her or its views. "
37/ The publishing of fines and penalties on the Commissioner's website relates to a separate power given to the Commissioner. If the Commissioner believe it to be in the public interest, they may publish details in advance of reaching a conclusion.
38/ When Callaway sought an injunction to delay the investigation into the UCP Kamikaze allegations, Justice Anne Kirker did note how it was odd that the Elections Commissioner didn't give Callaway adequate time to respond. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/kenney-callaway-ucp-oec-investigation-court-injunction-calgary-decision-1.5083536
39/ This thread is getting long in the tooth, and if you're still with me, I'll wrap things up with a few questions. If I were the Auditor General or the Lieutenant Governor, I'd be certainly be asking a few questions about this whole thing.
40/ When drafting Bill 32, did the NDP government adequately consult with the Chief Electoral Officer, Glen Resler, *and other stakeholders* on the full scope of proposed changes?
41/ What was the rationale in creating the Office of the Election Commissioner, then giving this office the responsibility of carrying out investigations, when the existing Chief Electoral Officer also has both the power and personnel to do this?
42/ What was the nature of the candidate search for filling the new position, in terms of the total number of applicants, their qualifications, and why was Lorne Gibson selected, in spite of previous baggage that could create a perception of bias?
43/ How many complaints poured in to the newly created Elections Commissioner's Office, which ones were investigated, and which ones weren't?
44/ Did the Elections Commissioner fail in his mandate, by failing to give Jeff Callaway adequate time to respond to allegations (as Callaway alleges, and Justice Kirkner noted).
45/ In my opinion, I think the NDP would have liked to get rid of Glen Resler, but the optics would have been risky. So they created a separate office with investigative powers, and made sure Lorne Gibson would get the job of being a thorn in the UCP's side.
46/ In conclusion, I think it's imperative to ask whether the creation of this office had any legitimacy, or whether it was a way to bypass Resler without the nasty optics of letting him go. It appears Resler was also placed on notice, of sorts. https://edmontonsun.com/2016/04/27/alberta-auditor-general-merwan-saher-who-coined-aura-of-power-phrase-reappointed-until-2018/wcm/1aa97d90-40fb-47e0-b906-91f023f63e44
47/ And finally, if the NDP did hold onto power in 2019, I'm betting the plan was to "fail to renew" Resler's contract in 2019, fold the office of the Commissioner, and shuffle Gibson over to the Chief Electoral Officer role. But that's just my speculation.
48/ And we'd be in a world where Gibson could walk into any constituency office, based on an allegation by *any* member of the public, armed with extraordinary powers to lay open the books of any political party, all in the name of campaign finance laws.
49/ Meanwhile, the NDP would be largely immune from such scrutiny, since most of its donations come from its own staffers, their spouses and former NDP MLAs (which would require a search warrant) https://www.macleans.ca/politics/who-are-the-alberta-ndps-biggest-donors-its-own-staffers/
50/ I think Lorne Gibson should apply. https://twitter.com/LukaszukAB/status/1198023166930628613?s=20
51/ Let's say Resler's contract does come up for renewal in 5 months. If the UCP replaces him, they will fend off the same criticisms the NDP faced when they appointed Gibson as Elections Commissioner. What happens if the UCP opts to renew Resler's contract?
