Excerpts from
Alberta Hansard
May
12, 2004
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. According to public accounts tabled
yesterday, the Department of Health and Wellness awarded
almost $ 120,000 in contracts to Charlebois Consulting, a
company 100 per cent owned by the minister of health's
former executive assistant Kelley Charlebois. In fact, in
the two years since Kelley Charlebois left his position
with the minister, the Minister of Health and Wellness has
awarded a total of over $250,000 in contracts. My questions
are to the Minister of Health and Wellness. How does the
minister explain giving over a quarter of a million dollars
in government contracts to a PR firm owned by his former
executive assistant?
Mr.
Mar: Let me
say first of all that that would include the expenses that
were incurred in the conduct of this business, but most of
all, Mr. Speaker, we get very, very good value and
excellent advice from Mr. Charlebois.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. Could the minister tell us what reports
Charlebois Consulting has completed for Health and
Wellness, and would he table them, please?
Mr.
Mar: Mr.
Speaker, there are no reports as such.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. Can the minister tell us whether
Charlebois Consulting won these contracts through a
competitive process?
Mr.
Mar: No, Mr.
Speaker.
May
13, 2004
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. Albertans are wondering if this
government is looking out for taxpayers or looking out for
its own friends. In the past two years the health minister
awarded over $ 250,000 in contracts to the consulting firm
of his own former executive assistant, Kelley Charlebois,
without going through any competitive tendering process. To
the minister of health: what role did the minister play in
approving over $ 250,000 for these contracts?
Mr.
Mar: A very
integral one, Mr. Speaker.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. Given that the minister admitted
yesterday that there was no competitive tendering process
on these contracts, how do Albertans know that they got
value for their money?
Mr.
Mar: Mr.
Speaker, I'll be happy to talk about that right now. An RFP
is not required for contracts under $ 100,000. At the
beginning of a contract year we try our very best to
estimate what we will require in terms of consulting advice
and so on. I can assure the hon. member that when the
contract was signed at the beginning of the year, it was
for less than $ 100,000, but as you can understand and
appreciate – and I think most people who operate large
enterprises would – the value of a consultant over a period
of time may result in them spending a great deal of time on
a particular issue in one week and then perhaps no time the
following week, but we can't exactly estimate the value of
what the total contract plus expenses will be for an entire
year. I can say, Mr. Speaker, that Kelley Charlebois has
had many years of experience in government and outside of
government. You don't get that kind of training anywhere
else, and government doesn't get the kind of advice that we
get from this individual from people who have never worked
inside government. An example of a job that would have been
given to Kelley Charlebois would be that all of the
provinces of the country were asked to put forward a name
as a representative to serve as a liaison with the Romanow
commission. Now, no report is produced per se by the
individual consultants, but I can assure hon. members of
this House and Albertans that every province put forward
the names of people that they thought would serve well in
their capacity as a liaison with the Romanow commission.
Other examples exist, Mr. Speaker, of work that he's done.
I'm happy to outline it in more detail. Again, Mr. Speaker,
I can assure hon. members that the 250,000 approximate
dollars that were spent over a two-
year period – it's a
lot of money. I acknowledge that. But consider that in the
next 15 minutes we'll spend approximately $ 250,000 on our
health care system, which costs $ 8 billion, and if I can
improve the quality of the health care system, if I can
improve the relationships with our health care providers,
if I can improve our relationships with our regional health
authorities by spending money on a consultant, I can assure
you that I will continue to do so.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you. To the same minister. He's described the work of this
person. Why not use one of the hundreds – hundreds – of
staff in his own department if not simply to reward a
friend and supporter?
Mr.
Mar: Mr.
Speaker, we do in fact have many people in our
department
that work with outside groups, and let me say that we've
accomplished a great deal in terms of renewal and reform of
our health care system over the period of the last four
years. Many people deserve credit, and some of the people
that deserve credit work within our own civil service. We
pay them credit for the work that's been done. We also
acknowledge, Mr. Speaker, that the work is being done by
regional health authority chairs, chief executive officers,
health professionals, physicians, nurses. There are many
people who deserve the credit for the kind of high-
quality
health care system that we have today. But we also
acknowledge that there's a role for outsiders, people from
outside of government, to also give us a fresh perspective
on some of the policy issues that we may be working on
within government.
The
Speaker: Second
Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the
Official Opposition.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. To the Premier: can the Premier tell us
if other departments follow the same practice as Health and
Wellness of awarding untendered contracts over a hundred
thousand dollars to former government officials?
Mr.
Klein: Mr.
Speaker, I would imagine that all departments of government
follow the rules.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you. Again to the Premier: can he tell us whether in 2003
the $ 129,000 in contracts awarded to his former chief of
staff, Rod Love, went through the proper tendering process,
or did Mr. Love get the same free ride as Mr. Charlebois?
Mr.
Klein: Well,
first of all, I don't know if Mr. Charlebois got a free
ride. I don't think he did. As the hon. minister pointed
out, Mr. Charlebois is tremendously knowledgeable in
government and in matters related to health. Mr. Love is
also very knowledgeable in government matters, Mr. Speaker,
and I would imagine that any consulting fees paid to Mr.
Love were paid in accordance with the rules set by this
Legislature.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you. Can the Premier tell us what reports Rod Love
Consulting has completed for government, and will he table
them?
Mr.
Klein: I can't
tell you offhand, Mr. Speaker, but if the hon. member will
provide a written question, we'll be glad to provide the
answers.
April
11, 2005
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. It's not just in Quebec where governing
parties channel money to their friends. The list of
government contracts in Alberta going to friends of the PC
Party with taxpayers getting nothing to show for it is long
indeed. The former minister of health handed $ 400,000 of
Albertans' money to his friend Kelley Charlebois, yet not
one page of work exists, not a memo, not a letter,
apparently not even an e-
mail. The Auditor General of
Alberta, lacking the teeth of his federal counterpart,
refuses to launch a special investigation. To the Minister
of Health and Wellness: can she tell us what Kelley
Charlebois did for $ 400,000 of taxpayers' money?
Ms
Evans: Mr.
Speaker, the amount referenced was over a threeyear period.
There was advice provided to the minister. I know that
there were appropriate receipts for the travel
expenditures. This was discussed at Public Accounts, and at
that time I made a commitment that the procedures were
being followed. We are working very hard to make sure that
staff are trained in appropriate ways so that this won't
happen again.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thanks,
Mr. Speaker. Will this minister request that the Auditor
General launch a full special investigation into what the $
400,000 was used for?
Ms
Evans: No, Mr.
Speaker. The Auditor General has conducted his audit, and
we have had a discussion about that in the context of a
meeting with the executive committee, and I don't know that
any more needs to be said. He has in fact examined those
books. He has spoken out at the time of Public Accounts,
and I'm not sure what more we would uncover.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. To the same minister: don't the taxpayers
of Alberta deserve to know what that $ 400,000 was spent
on?
Ms
Evans: Mr.
Speaker, my understanding is that that advice was provided
to the minister. There were several issues that the
minister was facing. I am told that the advice related to
things such as the changes in the regional health
boundaries, among others. I don't think more needs to be
added.
The
Speaker: Second
Official Opposition main question. The hon. Leader of the
Official Opposition.
Rod Love Consulting Inc.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, the list of government
contracts going to friends of the government, of the PC
Party is long indeed. This government sank over a million
dollars into a study quarterbacked by a group led by the
Premier's friend and now chief of staff, Rod Love, only to
learn, as many people predicted, that government money for
a railroad to Fort McMurray is not justified. To the
Premier: how many tax dollars of the 1 and a quarter
million this government sank into this study went
personally to the Premier's chief of staff?
Mr.
Klein: Mr.
Speaker, I don't know, and I say that quite frankly. I
really don't know. I do know that Rod Love was hired as a
consultant, when he was in the consulting business, to
advise the consortium on communications. As to the amount
he was paid, I don't know, but I'd be happy to find out.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. Exactly when and where –
exactly – will
the Premier make this information public?
Mr.
Klein: I don't
know where, and I don't know when, but I can make this
commitment. I will do it as soon as possible.
The
Speaker: The hon.
leader.
Dr.
Taft: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker. Speaking of making things public, will
the Premier instruct his chief of staff to make public the
directives given to him by the Ethics Commissioner
regarding his private lobbying business, as Mr. Love
promised to do?
Mr.
Klein: I don't
have any problems, Mr. Speaker.
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