Photo by Whitehorse Star
Pauline Frost and Opposition Leader Currie Dixon
Consult Conflicts Commissioner, YP urges premier
The Yukon Party is calling on Premier Sandy Silver to approach the territory’s Conflict of Interest Commissioner regarding a former Liberal cabinet minister’s activities since she left office last year.
The Yukon Party is calling on Premier Sandy Silver to approach the territory’s Conflict of Interest Commissioner regarding a former Liberal cabinet minister’s activities since she left office last year.
The situation involves Pauline Frost, the former minister of Health and Social Services.
Frost is now employed by Ketza Construction Corp., which has a $44.9-million government contract to build a new health and wellness facility in Old Crow. The village is in the riding she represented from 2016 until her defeat in the 2021 election.
In a Wednesday press release, the YP cited Section 10(4) of the Conflict of Interest Act, which says:
“A former Minister shall not make representations to the Government of Yukon in relation to a transaction or negotiation to which the Government is a party and in which the former Minister was previously involved as a Minister if the representations could result in the conferring of a benefit not of general application.”
The YP press release goes on to say, “The former minister of Health was responsible for the project and awarded the contract days before the 2021 territorial election was called.
“Now, as an employee of the contractor that was awarded the project, she reached out to government officials and has made representations on behalf of her new employer to the government regarding this project for which she was previously responsible.
“In the Yukon Legislative Assembly, the current minister of Highways and Public Works (Nils Clarke) has confirmed that numerous meetings occurred between the former minister and his department.”
Following question period in the legislature Wednesday, Opposition Leader Currie Dixon elaborated on the press release to reporters.
“Starting in the spring, we’ve raised a series of questions about the actions of the former minister of Health with regards to the Department of Highways and Public Works on a project that she was previously responsible for as minister,” Dixon said.
“The Conflicts Act is very clear in Section 10(4) that a former minister shall not make representations to the Government of Yukon about such a project and, and in this case, the minister, the current minister of Highways and Public Works, has made it very clear that she’s had numerous meetings with the Department of Highways and Public Works about this project for which she was formerly responsible.”
The YP recently wrote to David Phillip Jones, the Conflicts Commissioner, about the matter.
“That letter says that the only person in the territory that can request the advice about whether a former minister is in a conflict is the premier,” Dixon said.
“So today, we asked, ‘will the premier seek the advice of the Conflicts Commissioner about this matter?’ The premier has declared quite definitively that in his personal interpretation, there is no conflict.”
Dixon summed up his party’s position by saying: “What we’re doing today is calling on the premier to seek the advice of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, about whether or not the former minister is indeed in contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act.”
Dixon was asked why he believes there is such a discrepancy between his party’s and the Liberal party’s position.
“The premier has taken the view that he is an authority on what is and is not a conflict under the Conflict of Interest Act,” Dixon said. “He said that his interpretation of the act is that she’s not in conflict.
“I am somewhat more humble than that. I acknowledge that I’m not a lawyer. But that’s why we have the Conflicts Commissioner in place. He is there for the legislature to provide advice about whether or not we are in conflict on various things … in the unique case of a former minister, only the premier can ask that,” the YP leader said.
“So I can’t explain why he’s decided that his view on this is so strong that he doesn’t even want to seek the advice of the Conflicts Commissioner. When in fact in his mandate letter to his ministers, he tells them all that they need to proactively seek guidance on matters of conflict of interest from the Conflicts Commissioner.”
Dixon was also asked why this matter is so important to his party.
“We think it’s about ethics,” he responded. “It’s about good governance. It’s about transparency.”
Reporters asked Silver if he’s planning on seeking advice from Jones.
“No, I do not,” Silver responded.
Asked why, he replied: “I don’t see a conflict.”
Silver was then asked if it’s his job to determine if there’s a conflict.
“Again, I don’t see a conflict,” he stated emphatically.
“The Yukon Party brought this up months ago; they thought there was a conflict then. They could have actually made a complaint to the commissioner. They didn’t.”
Silver added, “I haven’t seen the letter yet from them, but I assume it’s to seek advice from the commissioner because that’s pretty much the only thing that I can do that others can’t.
“But as far as lodging (a) formal complaint, any member of the legislative assembly can lodge that complaint. Section 17.”
Section 17(d) reads:
“There shall be a Conflict of Interest Commission to be appointed by and be accountable to the legislative assembly, and the commission shall (d) investigate complaints made to it by a member that a member or minister is or was in a conflict.”
Silver was later asked about the fact the contract was awarded while Frost was the minister of the department, and that she is now employed by the company that received the contract?’
He replied, “As time moves forward, people change occupations in the Yukon and you’ll have to ask the minister if there was any conflict, the former minister obviously …. I don’t see an issue here. From a government perspective.
“They’re trying to pin something on us. They’re trying to assassinate the character of a former minister. They did that all last fall with Tracy-Anne McPhee, even completely misleading the legislative assembly, saying that they knew that there was some addenda to briefing notes that didn’t exist, completely exonerated independent reviews and Child and Youth Advocate reviews.” (Silver was referring to the Hidden Valley Elementary School sexual abuse scandal.)
“This is what they do,” the premier said of the Yukon Party.
“They attack the personnel, and they’re doing it again now. I do not see this as a conflict. I see this as a personal attack.”
Silver was asked if he’s had any assurances from Frost that there was no conflict of interest.
“I’m not the one who was looking for a smoking gun here, right? If there’s smoke, and if there’s fire, well, then the Yukon Party’s well within their rights to lodge a formal complaint. That’s it.”
The premier added, “I completely believe in my ministers. And I believe they have, previous and current ministers, taken this job extremely seriously, and have worked in the utmost integrity.
“And I continue to believe that despite the misleading information from the Yukon Party.
“There was nothing to see here in the spring. Still nothing to see here.”
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Comments (32)
Up 2 Down 4
TheHammer on Oct 26, 2022 at 10:45 am
How about bringing in the conflict commissioner on the issue of Medical Malpractice swept under the carpet? Who's interest is in conflict, the tax paying general public!
Up 6 Down 5
Groucho d'North on Oct 26, 2022 at 10:26 am
It would be nice if we could pick and choose the rules we want to live by, but that's not how our society works, or it shouldn't be at any rate. The rules that oversee the conduct of the Legislature and its members were created in concert by the elected representatives who came before. From what I'm aware of, there is not an option to ignore some rules because they may cause embarassment for those who violated them in some way. All Rules Matter! With our Prime Minister as an example of twisting the rules to suit his purposes, one can understand how Liberals may consider this practice to be acceptable. It's Not!
Up 4 Down 6
Patti Eyre on Oct 25, 2022 at 7:48 pm
@atom: amen! Lots of time wasters like Josi and Juni, all they do is carry on ya’all and offer nothing helpful but sling crap.
Up 18 Down 1
Heathen on Oct 25, 2022 at 1:42 pm
This certainly sounds like a script from Yes Minister and very similar to Hacker and Humphrey debating about knowing and not reporting conflicts:
Hacker: Well, I have to, now that I know about it.
Sir Humphrey: But you could say you don't know.
Hacker: Are you suggesting I should lie?
Sir Humphrey: Oh, not you, no!
Hacker: Who should lie?
Sir Humphrey: Sleeping dogs, Minister.
Hacker: I am going to raise this.
Sir Humphrey: No, Minister, I beg you. A basic rule of government is never look into anything you don't have to. And never set up an inquiry unless you know in advance what its findings will be.
Up 4 Down 10
Atom on Oct 25, 2022 at 11:25 am
Man....first time since the pandemic insanity I felt like checking out the comments in Yukon News.
Begs why anyone would want to be involved in politics anywhere, when this group of armchairs have a forum?
Oh and I know I won't get the 15 minutes it took to have this last look today back, but please don't spare me any criticisms.
Wouldn't want folks to feel any more cheated.
Up 15 Down 2
YukonMax on Oct 23, 2022 at 6:44 am
"territory’s Conflict of Interest Commissioner" What?
There is such a position somewhere in the Yukon government?
Why? Who ever calls out anyone in conflict?
Really!
Up 10 Down 18
Lynx on Oct 22, 2022 at 8:33 pm
Makes sense that the Premier doesn't go to the conflicts commissioner. Are we going to set the precedent where every government is now responsible for what its members do once they depart? What other employer is responsible for former employees?
If Currie Dixon thinks that Ketza Construction or Frost is doing something illegal, he should ask the police to investigate since it would be a legal matter. There is nothing that Silver could do to punish someone who is no longer even in the Yukon Government.
Personally I always thought that Ketza was a good, stand up, Yukon company. I would be surprised if Currie Dixon is right about them being underhanded. It will be interesting to see if he repeats his accusations outside the legal protections of the legislature.
Up 38 Down 8
Simple Minds on Oct 22, 2022 at 9:42 am
To Humble Measure on Oct 21, 2022 at 3:10 pm:
A simple translation for you: Liberals and their supporters are dangerous.
Up 20 Down 5
Whole lotta shaking going on… on Oct 21, 2022 at 10:03 pm
Dear Give your head a shake Juniper! on Oct 20, 2022 at 10:33 pm:
It seems that you have given your head a shake… A few too many times at that. Recovery can be a slow process. Perhaps you just vote Liberal?
Simply stated, there are two forms of conflict; real and perceived. The former cabinet minister appears to be in conflict with both forms.
The apparent conflict has already been reported on publicly.
“Mr. Speaker, the former minister has indeed contacted the Government of Yukon regarding this contract that she was responsible for as minister of Health and Social Services. Has the Government of Yukon sought legal advice about whether the former minister is in contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act in this respect?”
The purpose of the Conflict of Interest Legislation is to safeguard the public trust in the fairness of the system. The very simple rationale for the necessity of such safeguards is because the money involved is the people’s money, not the government’s. They are merely trustees - As in, they are given “… powers of administration of property in trust with a legal obligation to administer it solely for the purposes specified.”
She was the minister who awarded the contract in the first place. She now serves as a controlling interest for the company that secured the contract. Optically, this looks, at best, incestuously [the 2nd meaning] improper.
“Members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly are expected to perform their duties of office and arrange their private affairs in a manner that promotes public confidence and trust in each member’s integrity, that maintains the Assembly’s dignity and that justifies the respect given by society to the Assembly and its members.”
It is in the public interest to investigate this matter, and make it a public process. It should serve the public interest and not a political one. What are the timing of events? Are there family ties? And in this instance, does it even matter because the optics are peculiarly bad here. The public interest in this instance should be elevated due to the proportionality of the advantage gained.
Juniper’s statements are speculative musings rather than statements of claim. There is no libel no slander. The perception of a conflict of interest cannot be avoided here based on the publicly available information which seems considerable.
While you’re investigating the conflict of interest can you find out how much she paid for a glass of orange juice on the public dime?
Whitehorse Star -
https://www.whitehorsestar.com/News/yp-conducting-character-assassination-silver
Conflict of Interest Policy -
https://yukon.ca/en/conflictofinterestyukon/what-conflict-interest
Up 15 Down 7
bonanzajoe on Oct 21, 2022 at 6:16 pm
@Patti Eyre on Oct 21: I'm sure any of the prisoners I had on my watch would do a much better job than the Liberals and NDPers.
Up 4 Down 2
bonanzajoe on Oct 21, 2022 at 6:13 pm
That idea would save me having to put on a yard sale.
Up 12 Down 6
Look, another one with their head in the sand… on Oct 21, 2022 at 5:31 pm
Dear Humble Measure on Oct 21, 2022 at 3:10 pm:
Sheer verbosity?
Please let me know which words are unnecessary. Maybe I can provide you with a summary that is more palatable for your particular intellect. I hope you did not fall asleep. You may want to get checked for a mitochondrial disorder? I am not sure that your accusation has any real meaning in today’s narcissistic, ADHD, executive control impaired society of low standards and few, if any expectations.
I can suggest some tutors for you if English is not your thing?
But anyways, is there a problem with the message itself? Or, are you just here for the gaslights?
Up 11 Down 9
Humble Measure on Oct 21, 2022 at 3:10 pm
Re: Ostrich farm
The sheer verbosity of your comment left me wondering if Scott Pakin’s automatic complaint-letter generator was behind it all.
Up 4 Down 13
Patti Eyre on Oct 21, 2022 at 1:39 pm
@bonanzojoe: maybe you can talk to all your old prison guard buddies and form a committee?
Up 22 Down 30
Observer on Oct 21, 2022 at 10:41 am
I wonder what the cons think when they open a can of worms like this. I can count two or three recent premiers and ministers of past con parties that immediately after currying favor for mining companies, they ended up on the same mining companies board of directors.
Up 22 Down 9
Thoughts from the ostrich farm… on Oct 21, 2022 at 10:14 am
Dear BillyBob on Oct 20, 2022 at 4:29 pm:
Your contribution is representative of the problem in our politics today. The polemics of ‘whataboutisms’ nestled securely within some perverted notion of identitarianism as constitutive of a perpetuated and perpetual negative state upheld as a protective shield to advance liberalized ideals as virtuous in the face of behaviour that is not, and which is destructive to the collective good due to its inherent reductionism to a state of fixed tribalism with no common ground.
Yes, let us focus on the profane titillations of frustrated politicians who are being stonewalled in their pursuit of Liberal accountability… Canada has become a figurative ship of fools with regular shuttle service to Ottawa wherefrom the Fool King declares his edicts… Well beyond the reach of any moral, ethical, and legal concern… The great pretender advances his moral
relativism reinforcing the chaos of a society in free fall.
A an unspoken rewording of the preamble to the Canadian Constitution has become a parody of the Fool King’s and it’s courtier’s mendacity. A requirement to enter into the kingdom of the Fool King:
“'I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounce off me and sticks to you.'”
There are times when we must for our own sakes be able to look past the trees to see the forest. Yes, “dyck” jokes and sexualized commentary or texts should be discouraged in the legislature.
However, we really do have much bigger problems that need to addressed. For example:
“What’s emerged from the first week of the public hearings is a reality very different from the narrative pushed by elected officials from Trudeau on down, and echoed in sections of the media. The claim that the protesters were violent insurrectionists bent on destroying Canada has simply been falsified. It’s only in Canada where the establishment saw the protests as violent, illegitimate, and seditionist, while most of the rest of the world saw the protests as a legitimate civil disobedience movement in the face of the some of the harshest pandemic restrictions in the world, giving voice to their own sentiments. Ironically, the protests were an inspiration in much of the world, yet an embarrassment for Canada’s political elite.”
“One has to ask, how are our elected officials who purvey what can only be called misinformation or even disinformation be held to account? Recall, that the commission has no power to sanction the Trudeau government, even if the report finds that invoking an emergency was unjustified and did not meet the necessary legal threshold. With his effective majority in Parliament, thanks to Jagmeet Singh and the NDP, Trudeau could simply put the report on a shelf to gather dust. Yet, the public has been witness to nothing less than a debunking of the official narrative. Will they be satisfied with inaction after the commission files its report?”
“However things play out, public trust in our officials and our media establishment has been damaged, and that’s not good for Canadian democracy.”
It’s truly unacceptable that “we”, collectively, have allowed this lunacy to infect the body politick! We are a disgrace on the world stage, a laughing stock full of contemptuous virtue, a necrotic pathology.
From:
Rupa Subramanya: Justin Trudeau's case against the Freedom Convoy falls on its face
How are our elected officials who purvey what can only be called misinformation be held to account?
Link:
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rupa-subramanya-justin-trudeaus-case-against-the-freedom-convoy-falls-on-its-face
Up 28 Down 10
Justin Trudeau on Oct 21, 2022 at 8:27 am
First off I’d like to take a moment to remind the opposition that the government of Canada is doing everything it can to help middle and lower income Canadians by investing in ah Ummm ahhh I forgot what I was gonna say oh ya by investing in Canadians, further more in response to the unnecessary death of one of Canadas finest and thee finest law enforcement on the planet this government is taking steps to make illegal the purchase and transfer of all knives including kitchen knives which are the easiest to be concealed and resale available to anyone, that’s why we are bringing in Legislation to make illegal all knives and we are implementing a knife buy back program. That is why the liberal government is the best government in Canadas history, from now on all Canadians will be cutting with forks, spoons and wooden knives provided by Air Canada the official airline of the liberal bailout program.
Up 50 Down 4
Outsider on Oct 21, 2022 at 8:18 am
If Sandy Silver is so certain that there is no conflict of interest, why won’t he ask the Conflict of Interest Commission? Surely he’d get confirmation of his view and get to parade around telling that pesky opposition “told you so.”
Up 50 Down 7
Far Canal on Oct 21, 2022 at 4:52 am
Pauline Frost in the middle of something dodgy…? Please, say it ain’t so.
Up 15 Down 35
Give your head a shake Juniper! on Oct 20, 2022 at 10:33 pm
Juniper, do you realize that your questions about how Ms. Frost got her job with Ketza border on slander? You are openly speculating that she may have cut a secret deal with a Yukon company that earned a government contract to build a new health and wellness facility in Old Crow by inflating and helping to award the contract in exchange for a promise of future employment. That would be illegal, both for Ms. Frost and for Ketza. Oh, but in that great Trumpian tradition, you have couched your baseless speculation cleverly as “I wonder if…” and “Seems reasonable to me.” Why not just use Donald Trump’s favorite, “Many people are saying….!” Remember, Mr. Dixon is simply asking whether there should be an investigation by the Conflicts Commissioner, and as an MLA, Dixon enjoys parliamentary protection for his speech. You do not. Careful how far you wish to go down that path.
Up 21 Down 13
Mike Travill on Oct 20, 2022 at 9:15 pm
Juniper Jackson has very short memory. Ms Frost tried everything she could to retain her MLA job - including using her own money for court cases.
To think she was scheming for another job is preposterous Just last week the newspaper was full of the voter who cost her the election by getting to vote in Old Crow even though now after being released from jail the community won’t allow him to live there.
Up 23 Down 9
bonanzajoe on Oct 20, 2022 at 8:24 pm
Silver: "there is no conflict.” Let's have a special committee set up to find out. I'm talking about out of Territory committee with all outside members on it.
Up 17 Down 12
DB Cooper on Oct 20, 2022 at 7:48 pm
It was either her or Annie Blake on the for hire memo, Ketza doesn’t have a great track record from what I understand.
Up 38 Down 6
North_of_60 on Oct 20, 2022 at 7:15 pm
If there is no conflict of interest as Mr. Silver asserts, then he should have no problem approaching the territory’s Conflict of Interest Commissioner regarding a former Liberal cabinet minister’s activities since she left office last year.
The simple fact that he's avoiding that responsibility strongly suggests that he's covering-up something he doesn't want reviewed. He's tacitly admitting guilt, and refusing to take responsible action.
The problem is not that the Silver LIBgov is incompetent, entitled, lying, authoritarian, virtue-signaling, and repeatedly failing to show responsible transparency on issues of questionable dealings.
The problem is their supporters don't care.
Up 27 Down 3
Conflict of Characters on Oct 20, 2022 at 7:10 pm
Can’t pretend I really care who brings the Secret Sauce that runs the Yukon (conflict of interest) to light. If all the Premier has is a personal confidence and attacks on the whistleblower, then it seems it’s more of the same old pattern. Same pattern that Frost used to silence a previous whistleblower around the group home scandal. Deny, deny, deny until caught, then claim incompetence. Attack the person doing the right thing, carve them out and set them on fire. Pretend it’s all okay after.
Caught between systemic corruption with no accountability (Liberals) and freeloading agents of chaos (YP), what’s a reasonable person who just wants government to follow its own laws to do? My memory isn’t short enough to be their Greater Fool.
Up 16 Down 21
melba on Oct 20, 2022 at 5:28 pm
If Frost is being paid normal industry rates for the work she is doing, I would doubt that being hired by Ketza was any kind of payback for awarding them a $44 million contract. I do not know what she is being paid or what is normal, or how much actual work she is doing. Assume that passes the smell test though, it becomes a question of whether having someone who was intimately involved in assessing and awarding the project now working for you, is somehow wrong. It sounds to me like she'd be a good fit because she already knows the project and some of the people working on it, plus has knowledge of the department Ketza has to work with to successfully complete it. Can they gain advantage with her being friends with people in the government? I don't know. It's possible. I wonder how many people working in similar positions do NOT know people in the government though.
There are some realities about the size of the territory, 40,000 people which is smaller than some student bodies at Canadian universities (61,000 at university of Toronto for example). And the pool gets even smaller if you want someone from the community the project is located in.
Was the Yukon Party, including Curry, this worried when their former ministers took jobs or director positions with mining companies?
Up 71 Down 19
Juniper Jackson on Oct 20, 2022 at 4:57 pm
Frost did ok for herself I see. I wonder if this employment deal was reached before she left office? One of those, ok, I'll give you a 100 million dollar contract.. it will be 100 million, not 49, before it's finished.. but if i lose this election i want a job guarantee. Is Frost making more money in this position at Ketza, significantly more than the last person earned, or that Ketza would pay a future employee? Seems reasonable to me.
Up 70 Down 13
Groucho d'North on Oct 20, 2022 at 4:55 pm
Looks like the Federal and Yukon Liberals are sharing the same strategy notes on how to deflect away from potential problems due to ethics, or a failure to abide by them. Or perhaps the rest of us are just experiencing it differently?
Up 36 Down 76
BillyBob on Oct 20, 2022 at 4:29 pm
“We think it’s about ethics,” he responded
LOL!
Hold it, the party of the WhatsApp nonsense? Stacey and Wade are still in the YP caucus after their conduct and you’re all about “ethics”?
Oh that’s a good one Currie.
Up 71 Down 12
Transparency? on Oct 20, 2022 at 4:15 pm
“There was nothing to see here in the spring. Still nothing to see here.”
Spoken like a true liberal.
Up 86 Down 13
Olav on Oct 20, 2022 at 3:56 pm
Slippery Sandy Silver !
He is protecting himself - not his Minister
It will be interesting to see what private enterprise he ends up working for!
Up 62 Down 9
Josey Wales on Oct 20, 2022 at 3:46 pm
Sigh...again...anyone know a struggling politician, sitting or retired?