Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 23/98) - The report on the conflict of interest inquiry into a complaint against Premier Don Morin will be made public Wednesday.

The legislative assembly announced Friday afternoon the assembly will sit Wednesday starting at 1:30 p.m. for the tabling of the report, authored by conflict of interest commissioner Anne Crawford.

By law, Crawford must deliver the report to the Speaker of the House, Sam Gargan.

Gargan is then required to table the report in the legislative assembly, officially making it a public document.

Clerk of the legislative assembly David Hamilton said arranging the Wednesday sitting was neither difficult nor costly, since almost all MLAs were in town this week for committee meetings.

The legislative assembly is scheduled to resume sitting Dec. 2. Asked why it was thought necessary to table the report before then, Hamilton said it was to avoid public speculation.

"Once the speaker gets (the report) it becomes an official document of the assembly," Hamilton said. "It's proper that the members get it first, then it's not, sort of, circulating around the world before they've officially seen it."

The report did not spend too much time in Crawford's hands once she finished writing it. Asked Friday when she would be handing it to the clerk, Crawford replied, "Nobody knows that, because it isn't done. These things don't pop out of your hat."

If Crawford finds there was no violation of conflict of interest law, there will be no debate of the report and that will be the end of the matter as far as the assembly is concerned.

If Crawford finds there has been a violation, the assembly must consider the report and either accept or reject it within the next 30 sitting days.

"If there is an imposition of punishment -- and I want to make that clear, if there is -- the assembly can either accept the report or reject it," explained Hamilton. "It's all or nothing."

Under conflict of interest law, violators are subject to a wide range of penalties, from a reprimand to the loss of a seat in the legislature and payment of costs to be determined by the commissioner.

Though the cost of the inquiry is yet to be calculated, Hamilton said the government has been billed for $480,000 so far. He estimated the total tab to the government will be just over $900,000.