SUNDRE – The mayor of Sundre believes elected officials who represent the public’s interest should perhaps be cognizant of the optics involved in accepting “extravagant” gifts from lobbyists.
Richard Warnock was asked his thoughts on the recent controversy around Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and a cabinet entourage accepting playoff hockey tickets in a luxury suite paid for by Sam Mraiche, a businessman involved in a government deal to buy children’s pain medication from Turkey.
“It’s always looked at as to whether we – as elected officials – should shy away from somebody saying, ‘I’ll buy you lunch,’” Warnock told the Albertan recently.
Before entering politics and being elected as a first-term Sundre councillor in 2017 and later the mayor’s seat in 2021, Warnock accrued decades of experience in the oil and gas industry including 25 years in senior management with a trucking company that operated in both the U.S. and Canada.
“I go back to 30 years ago, 40 years ago, when the businesses used to buy stereos for their customers for Christmas and TVs and all that kind of stuff,” he said.
“And that kind of got frowned upon; it declined over time where most organizations put in stop orders for that,” he said.
“I think it’s very tough for someone in government – whether it’s federal, provincial or municipal – to accept something that’s, I’ll use the word extravagant,” he said.
Accepting for example cheap seats in the bleeders might be one thing. But expensive seats up in a corporate box suite, is another matter entirely.
“That’s two different worlds. It’s absolutely different,” he said.
“You got to take a look at what that is when making your decision to accept. I try to stay away from 99.99 per cent of everything because of perception,” he said.
“That’s where it becomes an issue,” he said, referring to the optics involved and the idea that just because one can, does not necessarily mean they should.
“Personally, caution is always the right way to go.”
For her part, premier Smith – whose government just last year changed ethics rules that critics say encourages corruption – defended her decision to accept the tickets and attend the playoff game by stating no rules were broken.
