Speaker won't pursue charges after sworn statement found to be false

Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 26/04) - Two high-ranking politicians are saying Roger Allen shouldn't be charged for falsifying legislative assembly residency forms.

But a Northern lawyer with years of experience as defense counsel gives a legal opinion that charges should be laid.

The lawyer, who did not wish to be identified, told News/North the Twin Lakes MLA broke the law if he did not live in a dilapidated shack outside Inuvik as he claimed in the government form. The written statement qualified the former justice minister for up to $30,000 in housing allowance each year. The allowance is for MLAs who keep a second residence in Yellowknife.

Earlier this month the Board of Management -- a body that oversees MLA expense accounts -- said Allen could not prove he lives in Inuvik. Allen's $30,150 annual allowance was cancelled and he was ordered to repay about $10,000 he has already received from the territorial government.

"It seems like your garden variety (fraud)," said the lawyer. "I would not expect my clients to get the same easy walk."

However, the government says the matter is closed.

"I'm satisfied the situation has been resolved," Speaker of House Paul Delorey told News/North.

Shack life

Controversy erupted two weeks ago when a television news report showed Allen's "official" residence in Inuvik: a small wooden shack without electricity or road access, located deep in the bush, a 30-minute trek over marshland from the Dempster Highway.

In a declaration sworn under oath, Allen said the shack was "where I normally reside when I am not required to be in Yellowknife to fulfil my member's responsibilities." He went on to confirm the shack "is where I live and maintain the normal and usual routine of life."

Allen owns another house in Grimshaw, Alta., which is home to his wife and children. When News/North contacted him there last week, Allen said he was "on six weeks holiday. I'm entitled to vacation."

Absent MLA

Several of Allen's constituents said they have not seen him in months, including his closest rival in last year's territorial election, Clarence Wood.

"I've seen him once in the last four months," Wood told News/North last week. "As deputy mayor, I get a lot of calls that would go to him, if people could find him."

Despite mounting evidence that Allen falsified his declaration of residence, fellow members of the assembly insist the government won't press criminal charges.

"I think the decision rendered was adequate," said Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche. "The public should have confidence in our decision."

Menicoche is also chair of the standing committee on Accountability and Oversight which has wide-ranging responsibility for monitoring government operations .

Delorey admitted "on their face" Allen's actions may appear inappropriate, but he gave the one-time candidate for the premier's office the benefit of the doubt.

"Roger's understanding (of the solemn declaration) may have been flawed," said Delorey. "In his mind, it may have constituted a valid agreement."

According to section 362 of the criminal code, a person is guilty of a obtaining funds by false pretence if they "knowingly make a false statement in writing with intent that it should be relied (for) the payment of money."

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably isn't a lion in heat," the lawyer said when asked how Allen's actions compare to the criminal code definition.

Last week, Delorey said it was not his responsibility as head of the Board of Management or Speaker of the House to lay a criminal complaint against Allen.

Katherine Peterson, a law clerk of the Legislative Assembly, said members of the public could file a complaint with the conflict of interest commissioner or with the RCMP, said Peterson.

Police can't act

But Sgt. Daryl Key said police would need the co-operation of the victim -- in this case the territorial government -- before they launch an investigation.

"Without that, there is really no way for the investigation to go forward," he said.

Through a spokesperson, Premier Joe Handley said he wouldn't comment on the situation, saying it fell outside of his responsibilities.

MLAs David Krutko and Robert Hawkins also declined to comment, while Jane Groenewegen, Calvin Pokiak and Norman Yakeleya did not return phone calls by press time.