Accountability, Danny-style

In his now-famous report, Mr. Justice Green said:

As in the case of any citizen, Members should be able to make a donation privately from personal funds to whomever they consider needs it. One has to be careful, however, to ensure that more wealthy Members should not be able to obtain an advantage in promoting their own political position by making substantial personal donations, thereby placing financial pressure on less well off Members to do the same. In my view, the effects of this potential inequity can be reduced by requiring that when a Member makes a personal donation he or she should do so without reference to the fact that he or she is a Member of the House; in other words, it is to be made in a personal capacity only. It is true that many people might nevertheless recognize the name and make the connection with the Member’s public position. There is little that can be done about that if the connection is made from general knowledge in the community. However, the Member should not actively promote dissemination of information about the connection when making the donation.

He further recommended:

Recommendation No. 76

(1) Members of the House of Assembly should be prohibited from making donations and other gratuitous payments to or on behalf of individuals, charities, community groups or agencies using their constituency allowance or other public money;

(2) A Member should be prohibited from making donations or gratuitous payments out of his or her own funds unless:

(a) the donation is expressed to be made in his or her personal capacity without any reference to the fact that he or she is a member of the House;

(b) if there is to be a public acknowledgement of the donation or payment attributing it to the Member, the Member stipulates that there is to be no reference in the acknowledgement that he or she is an MHA or a member of a political party;

(3) Upon adoption of a rule dealing with prohibitions on donations and other gratuitous payments, the Speaker should forthwith cause notification to be published to the residents of the province informing them of the restrictions placed on Members in this regard.

The House of Assembly Accountability, Integrity and Administration Act provides:

46. (5) A member, in his or her capacity as a member, shall not make a donation or gift, whether of a charitable nature or not, to any person, group or community except as may be contemplated by subsection (3) and section 27.

(6) Where a member makes a donation or gift, whether of a charitable nature or not, in a personal capacity, the member shall, in making the donation or gift, stipulate that any acknowledgment of the donation or gift shall not identify him or her as a member.

Which might explain why the following VOCM story refers to Danny Williams as the Premier, not as a member or MHA, and why Mrs. Williams is the Spokeswilliams who touts the Williams Family Foundation's charitability:

Children's Wish Radiothon a Big Success! - Nov 7, 2007

It has been a record setting day for the 22nd annual Children's Wish Radiothon on stations of the VOCM/CFCB Radio network. Pledges total more than 72 thousand dollars, and they're still coming in!

VOCM Cares Executive Director Michelle Myrick was fast off the mark with the first corporate donation of the day, $1000.

The Williams Family Foundation, funded in part by the Premier's salary, made a donation of $10,000. Maureen Williams told Myrick, the donation was to honour the many sick children they met at the Janeway.

So — how long now before other cabinet ministers' spouses start presenting donations on behalf of the Kennedy Family Foundation or Oram Association or the Denine Society?