Conflict commissioner refuses to back out of investigation
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (May 16/01) - It's all done but the writing, says conflict-of-interest commissioner Carol Roberts.
On Tuesday, the legislative assembly's Board of Management faxed a request to Roberts asking her to suspend her investigation of a complaint against deputy premier Jane Groenewegen.
The board wants time to deal with an application from Groenewegen to have Roberts removed from the investigation. Groenewegen is alleging the commissioner's words -- to the media and to Jack Rowe, who filed the complaint -- call her impartiality into question.
"There's not much to investigate at this point," Roberts said of a complaint that Groenwegen violated conflict law by remaining a director of one of her companies. "It's fairly straightforward."
Though she would not say when she will finish it, Roberts says she has started writing the report on the investigation.
The board is asking Roberts, who has retained a lawyer, to respond to three points raised by Groenewegen's lawyer in the application requesting the conflict commissioner's removal:
Though the board has yet to release a copy of the application, it is believed to include correspondence between Rowe and Roberts prior to the filing of the complaint.
Rowe said his filing of the complaint began with him clicking on an e-mail link on the commissioner's Web site, saying he wanted to file a complaint based on information revealed by CBC.
The commissioner e-mailed him back to tell him he had to provide the information himself, rather than referring to a second party.
Other e-mails followed, leading to the filing of the complaint.
"Do I believe it could be perceived that she encouraged me? No," said Rowe yesterday.
Rowe said the questioning of Roberts impartiality is "smoke and mirrors," and that the complaint is straightforward question of whether or not Groenewegen remained a director of one of her companies.
Katherine Peterson, law clerk of the legislative assembly, said she anticipates it will take no more than a month to deal with the application. Peterson said a board meeting is being arranged to hear arguments from the lawyers from both sides.
Roberts, like Groenewegen and Rowe, grew up in Hay River and still considers the town her home. Now working out of Vancouver, she articled with John Bayly, principle secretary to cabinet.
Roberts left Hay River when she was 17 and has had no political involvement with either Rowe or Groenewegen.
