By Dori Modney

executives scrutinized

Auditor General finds $2.3 Million misused by Alberta Energy Regulator

Oct 4, 2019 | 1:40 PM

EDMONTON — In a scandal that has left taxpayers about $2.3 million out of pocket, a provincial government investigation has concluded the former head of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) grossly mismanaged public funds.

The findings were announced on Friday by Alberta’s auditor general Doug Wylie, public interest commissioner Marianne Ryan and ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler.

An investigation, stemming from a public complaint, revolved around the activities of Jim Ellis and other executives with the energy regulator, between 2017 and 2018.

The report states Ellis and other executives set up a non-profit agency to sign contracts around the globe to advise on best regulatory practices.

The plan was for the agency to be spun off from the regulator and go independent, but the report says the reason behind that was to provide future employment for Ellis and others.

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According to the report, Ellis and others worked to get the agency off the ground, even though it was not part of the regulator’s mandate and potentially put it in conflict with the oil companies it was overseeing.

““Public servants are beholden to the taxpayers they serve, and we cannot condemn the practices noted in these reports strongly enough,” said Minister of Environment and Parks Jason Nixon and Minister of Energy Sonya Savage in a joint statement. “These reports cite several troubling and unacceptable examples of conduct that demonstrate that the focus of the AER’s previous leaders clearly lay elsewhere, a clear betrayal of the organization’s obligations to Albertans.”

The AER also issued a public statement following release of the report.

(With file from The Canadian Press)