Vennard shouldn’t have accepted birthday gift from Red FM: watchdog

CRTC commissioner Linda Vennard broke conflict of interest rules by accepting a birthday gift from a stakeholder, the ethics watchdog announced Tuesday. “All public office holders should be mindful of their obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act when they are offered gifts or other advantages, particularly by stakeholders of their public sector entity,” Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson said in a press release. In her report, Dawson outlined the investigation into Vennard, which said the gift of a bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates came in July 2015 from a representative of Multicultural Broadcasting Corporation Inc., which owns two radio stations in Calgary and Surrey, B.C., branded as Red FM. According to the report, Vennard, who had started her five-year term as the regional commissioner for Alberta and the Northwest Territories about two months earlier, had a meet and greet with the reps arranged by her assistant. The same assistant organized a surprise birthday celebration for Vennard in July and invited the Red FM reps, who could not attend but sent the gift. Receipts provided to Dawson’s office during the investigation showed a price tag of about $123 for the gift. “The fact that RED FM was a CRTC stakeholder as a broadcasting licensee to operate RED FM 106.7 in Calgary should have been enough to put Dr. Vennard on notice that the gifts offered might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence her as the CRTC Commissioner for Albert and the Northwest Territories,” Dawson’s report said, adding that it was “an error in judgment” on Vennard’s part to receive the gift even if they came as a result of an intervention from her assistant. Dawson’s investigation was precipitated by complaints referred to her office from the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner regarding three other issues that Dawson said she dismissed in her preliminary review. The Conflict of Interest Act doesn’t have any provision for penalties outside of public disclosure, Jocelyne Brisebois, spokesperson for the ethics commissioner’s office, said in an email.

Vennard shouldn’t have accepted birthday gift from Red FM: watchdog

Brief | September 13, 2016

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Vennard shouldn’t have accepted birthday gift from Red FM: watchdog

Brief | September 13, 2016

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