Smith says no wrongdoing under new ethics rules after Oilers playoff tickets gifted

Premier Danielle Smith at the Kdays Premier's Breakfast on July 19, 2024. (Nav Sangha/CTV News Edmonton)

Alberta's premier is defending her decision to accept Edmonton Oilers playoff tickets after the UCP government loosened ethics rules.

Danielle Smith said Invest Alberta, a corporation owned by the province, hosted her at a playoff game in Vancouver.

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When asked about the trip, Smith said it's the corporation's job to show off Alberta on an international platform – and that it's her job to support the Oilers.

"I think people expect that their elected representatives are going to support the team. That was it, we were just excited to support our team," Smith said.

A story published by the Globe and Mail on Thursday reports that multiple other UCP cabinet members also attended playoff games hosted by the company responsible for importing $70 million in Turkish children's pain reliever in 2023.

On Friday at the K-Days Premier's Breakfast, Smith allowed questions from only three reporters and refused to say how many other UCP officials and staff were taken to games.

"The rules are very clear about when you have to disclose, how you have to disclose, and I leave it to each MLA to have that relationship with the commissioner," Smith said.

Sam Blackett, Smith's press secretary, said Smith attended three playoff games, and that all rules under the Alberta Conflicts of Interest Act were followed. 

Blackett said the tickets for the Vancouver game were given to Smith by a "private citizen," and that no expenses for the trip -- including commercial airfare each way -- were paid for by the Government of Alberta. 

'It does look bad'

Last year, the UCP government changed the Conflict of Interest Act to give provincial politicians the ability to accept more expensive gifts.

Smith said the changes were needed because the previous limits were hampering the UCP government's ability to meet people and represent Alberta at events.

Previously, non-monetary gifts to politicians were capped at $200 and elected officials could only accept tickets worth up to $400 per year from any single source.

"The whole point of the original ethics rules was to make sure that any gifts were reasonable and modest, and that they were publicly disclosed as well as to ensure that no one can buy hours of uninterrupted access to politicians and staff," Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said in a press release Friday.

The NDP are calling on the premier and her staff to disclose who accepted tickets and who paid for travel to those games. Additionally, the NDP wants the UCP government to revise and strengthen ethics rules.

Political scientist Duane Bratt said what Smith and UCP members did was legal but that it doesn't make it ethical.

"The acceptance of tickets itself was not a big deal," Bratt said. "The trip to Vancouver, that's a separate matter, and the involvement of the company with the Turkish Tylenol knockoff makes it worse."

• 'Not looking to make money': Alberta government swallows cost on imported children's pain reliever 
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"It may be legal, because the government made changes to gifting regulations, but it does look bad."

Bratt said former premier Alison Redford was criticized heavily by Smith while in office for scandals involving public money and donations, including more than $300,000 in donations to the PCs by Daryl Katz, his family members and staff in 2012.

• Critics allege Daryl Katz tried to 'buy' the Alberta PCs 

At the time, Smith said the donation called "into question the integrity of the last election."

"If later that winter in his owner's box, (Katz) had Redford and a whole bunch of cabinet ministers – how would Wildrose leader Daniel Smith view that?" Bratt said. 

This is not the first time Smith or her government has been accused of ethics violations.

In May 2023, ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler announced that Smith had broken ethics rules during a January phone call with the justice minister about a legal case against a controversial Calgary pastor.

• 'It was a mistake': UCP Leader Smith acknowledges ethics violation but doesn't apologize 
• Seeking legal advice OK, trying to 'influence' prosecution not, justice minister confirms after Smith's ethics breach 
   

Blackett said officials are working with the ethics commissioner to make sure the rules in place for accepting playoff tickets are "made as clear as possible." 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Matt Woodman