The federal ethics watchdog has ruled an official from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission shouldn't have accepted a birthday bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates because the gifts came from a CRTC stakeholder.
Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson wrote in a report released Tuesday that Linda Vennard, the CRTC commissioner for Alberta and the Northwest Territories, shouldn't have accepted the gifts, which broadcaster RED FM sent on her birthday, because the gifts "'might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence' Dr. Vennard in the exercise of an official power, duty or function."
By coincidence, before receiving the flowers and chocolates, Vennard was on the phone with an advisor from Dawson's office discussing the rules around gifts. Vennard had been asking the office specifically about two different gifts she'd been offered by stakeholders: free use of a cottage and tickets to the Calgary Stampede.
"Despite the fact that Dr. Vennard had spoken with the advisor from my office just minutes before she received the bouquet of flowers and box of chocolates, Dr. Vennard said she did not think to call the advisor back to ask whether those gifts were considered acceptable," Dawson wrote in her report.
The flowers were worth $123.90, according to a receipt provided by RED FM, which runs radio stations in Calgary and Surrey, B.C. The broadcaster sent the gifts after Vennard's assistant mentioned the birthday during a phone call. This was done without Vennard’s knowledge. Vennard had estimated the value to be between $50-60.
Vennard was new to the CRTC at that point, having been appointed in May, 2015. She was a professor at the University of Calgary’s Department of Communication and Culture from 2000 to 2015, where her area of specialty was "the social context of science and technology, and advanced communication technologies and digitization in particular," according to her biography on the CRTC website. "She has also conducted research on the ethical and societal impacts of the adoption of science and technology," it said.
RED FM sent the gifts in July after meeting with her once prior. The radio station also presented Vennard with a branded t-shirt and mug after she visited their office the next month. Dawson found those "token gifts" were acceptable. She also found a bowl of soup worth $8.95, for which RED FM paid during an initial lunch meeting in May, was acceptable.
"There is no evidence of a pattern of payments for other meals for Dr. Vennard by RED FM. I did not consider this small gesture sufficient to raise an additional concern under section 11 of the Act. I concluded that in the circumstances it could not reasonably be seen to have been given to influence her in the exercise of her official powers, duties or functions," Dawson wrote.
The flowers and chocolates were a different matter, particularly because Vennard had no existing relationship with Kulwinder Sanghera or Bijoy Samuel, who sent the gifts on behalf of RED FM, and with whom she had met as part of her CRTC role.
"Dr. Vennard believed that the flowers and chocolates were not sent to influence her, but rather as a gesture to acknowledge her birthday... She saw no difference between these gifts and the birthday emails and e-cards she received from a few of her professional contacts," Dawson wrote in her report.
"Dr. Vennard noted that she accepted those gifts early in her tenure at the CRTC and she said that she expected that she could rely on her assistant to familiarize her with established and accepted CRTC procedures."
Dawson looked into Vennard's case after a separate complaint referred by the public service integrity commissioner. That complaint was unfounded, Dawson said in the report. The original complaint alleged the CRTC was paying for her spouse's travel, that he had gone to CRTC meetings while a registered lobbyist, and that she had received free tickets to a gala and a symposium.
Dawson found no expenses filed on behalf of Vennard's spouse. She also found Vennard's lobbying was unconnected to the CRTC and had been several years before Vennard's appointment. Finally, she found Vennard attended the gala and symposium on behalf of the CRTC, so the free tickets were appropriate.
