Former Saskatchewan agriculture minister Eric Upshall will not be
prosecuted for accepting a government contract too soon after he was
defeated.
Manitoba Justice officials last week said limitations within
Saskatchewan’s legislation mean Upshall cannot be charged for allegedly
breaching the act.
Manitoba was asked to provide an independent review of the
circumstances, since Upshall worked on Saskatchewan justice minister
Chris Axworthy’s NDP leadership bid a year ago.
Under Saskatchewan legislation, former cabinet ministers cannot receive
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provincial government contracts from any department, agency or crown
corporation within 12 months of leaving office.
Upshall was defeated in the September 1999 election.
But the legislation also states that prosecution must be initiated
within six months of an alleged conflict of interest occurring. The
contracts in question were completed more than six months ago.
Saskatchewan’s conflict of interest commissioner, Gerald Gerrand, is
also investigating. But he has said the legislation restricts the
results of his inquiry to current MLAs.
The provincial government will now consider amendments to the Members’
Conflict of Interest Act.
“The Manitoba response and the public comments of Mr. Gerrand indicate
that the Conflict of Interest Act has some limitations,” premier Lorne
Calvert said in a statement. “The government will want to consider the
means by which these can best be addressed.”
The contracts came to light last December when Upshall sued his former
business partner, Kevin Durst, for $23,750, saying he had not been paid
for his share of survey work done for Saskatchewan Agriculture by Durst
and Associates.
The first contract worth $9,000 was awarded March 6, 2000. The second
was obtained June 29, 2000 and worth $50,000.
The federal agriculture department later purchased the results of the
second survey.
The opposition Saskatchewan Party said the six-month limitation in the
current legislation should be extended to at least two years to ensure
a similar situation does not happen again.
