If only Andy Thompson had lived to see this day!
Andrew Ernest Joseph Thompson, who ascended to the Great Legislature in the Sky in 2016, was the low-profile Canadian Senator who spent too much of his time in the lovely Mexican city of Guadalajara.
And who can blame him, the winter climate in Jalisco state is so much fairer than in Ottawa!
Alas, for Senator Thompson, the Reform Party in Parliament got wind of his lousy attendance record in the Chamber of Sober Second Thought and ginned up a tremendous brouhaha, going so far as to hire a rudely stereotypical Mariachi band and serve burritos in the Senate lobby to assail him.
It worked. By March 1998, Senator Thompson had been driven from office.
Now it’s the 21st Century and apparently it’s perfectly fine with legislators from the Reform Party – or the United Conservative Party, as the same crowd is called in Alberta in 2024 – to live in a place with a more salubrious climate as long as they can be depended upon to vote the right way.
I speak, of course, of John McDougall of the Edmonton Police Commission, who has moved to Portugal where the climate is so much nicer this time of year than in Edmonton, thank you very much. Nevertheless, he intends to serve the remaining two years of his term on the commission, although he is no longer chair of the governance and oversight body, which describes itself as “the guardian of public trust.”
“I can assure Edmonton that my continued service adheres to all rules regarding my new accommodation, as there are no residency requirements for commissioners appointed by the City of Edmonton or the Government of Alberta,” the former Armed Forces officer said in a statement to media late last week when the topic of his recent change of address came to light. “To be clear, residency requirements are not stipulated in the Police Act or the City’s Police Commission Bylaw.”
The motto on Alberta’s coat of arms, as has been noted here before, could very well read, “No laws were broken.” Indeed, no rules were broken by Senator Thompson’s initial absences as well, although, to be fair, they didn’t have Zoom in 1997 as Michelle Rempel Garner, the Calgary Conservative MP and Oklahoma resident, did in 2020.
“The Internet: it works in Portugal,” Mr. McDougall told the Edmonton Journal in an interview conducted by Zoom, adding that he didn’t tell the commission or the city he was moving because it’s none of their business. “I’m entitled to a private life.”
Needless to say, this is a completely ridiculous situation, utterly inappropriate for a member of a public board that includes among its functions listening to public concerns about the activities of the city’s police service. And that’s without even thinking about the seven-hour time difference.
As Ward papastew Councillor Michael Janz told City News, “It’s not the Portuguese police commission, it’s the Edmonton Police Commission. And I think it’s really important for the legitimacy of the commission to have people who live, who work, who play, who sleep, who breathe in Edmonton.”
“How do you keep abreast of everything that’s going on in Edmonton?” asked well-known Edmonton criminal-defence lawyer Tom Engel. “How do you talk to people in the street?”
Now, in the normal course of events, one would have expected the provincial minister who appointed Mr. McDougall to the commission to publicly thank him for his service and gently suggest that he quietly move along.
Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis doesn’t see it that way, though. After first telling reporters he didn’t know about Mr. McDougall’s plan and assumed he’d be in Edmonton for commission meetings, his office issued a statement saying it’s “vital” that Mr. McDougall remain on the commission during the search for a new chief to replace Dale McFee, who leaves his job on Feb. 21.
“I look forward to John’s continued leadership on the commission at this time,” the statement quoted Mr. Ellis saying.
Chief McFee, as is well known, is an open political ally of the UCP Government and a key part of the provincial government’s ongoing efforts to undermine the city’s more progressive mayor and councillors.
The reasonable conclusion is that Mr. Ellis is willing to suffer the embarrassment of a provincial appointee to a city board living in Portugal if that ensures a vote for the province’s choice for Chief McFee’s replacement.
And since Chief McFee will be working as the province’s chief civil servant within three days of leaving the Edmonton Police Service, he’ll certainly be in an excellent position to ensure Ellis knows the right name to along to Mr. McDougall, assuming the trans-Atlantic Internet cables remain intact.
Anyone who recalls the UCP Government’s unseemly hurry to force civil servants back to work in the pandemic year of 2020 needs to remember that that was then, and this is now. If someone comes up with a better explanation, I’ll be sure to let you know about it.
In the meantime, apparently it’s OK for a cold northern city’s official to Zoom in from Portugal with the blessing of the provincial government.
If you don’t like it, I suppose you could try to hire a fado singer and serve grilled fish at the next Police Commission meeting.
A Portuguese crime-fighter would be well-versed in Carmen Miranda rights.
Edwin: Thanks for reminding me. If I’d remembered the Brazilian Bombshell, I would have found a way to include her in this story. I’ll keep it in mind for future reference. DJC
Mike Ellis claims he didn’t know about this, yet John McDougall asked the UCP for permission to move to Portugal, so he can work there. The UCP are a big joke.
Yes, where is that mariachi band when you need it, or the Portuguese equivalent, to serenade all the Police Commission’s future meetings? If this seems ridiculous, well no more so than trying to keep on top of what is happening on the streets of Edmonton from Portugal.
I don’t know all the details about the circuitous route from the Reform Party to the UCP, but somewhere along the way I feel they lost some of their concern for the grassroots. Of course the UCP does still maintain a false store front of populism, but in the back stock room they carry a heck of a lot of we don’t really care about the people.
However, I do wonder if the embarrassment here will eventually cause the Minister to revert to his earlier position that he was not aware the commissioner was not here and thought he would be coming back for meetings in person. It might be a bit of a climb down but lots of people do go to Portugal for short trips. So perhaps it was a miscommunication.
So hopefully the Minister will soon come to his senses. But in case not, could someone serenade the Police Commission with Portuguese music? This sort of approach seems to have worked before.
Hope he doesn’t expect mileage and per diems if he flies home to attend meetings
Good luck with those transatlantic cables! Ahoy, Russian captains of Chinese ships, please accept this gentle remember to lift your anchors. If you hear something unusual, kindly stop and check it out.
https://maritime-executive.com/article/wsj-chinese-ship-dragged-anchor-for-100-miles-and-cut-two-cables
The chief problem with the Portugal residency of Edmonton’s police commission member is not that it’s legal to move abroad while holding this position, although a residency requirement needs to be implemented ASAP. It’s what this says about a person who would move away without revealing this major change of life circumstances to the commission. Also, what does this say about everyone else on the police commission and non-disclosure? Maybe the rest of them are standing on moral high ground, but who knows? If one is willing to skirt around the edges of what’s legal, it begs the question if anyone else on the commission understands the concept of ethics. As for Mike Ellis…
Trust, once broken, will be hard to regain. Lies of omission are lies nonetheless. Guardians of public trust? That’s quite a pickle. If you have nothing to hide, why hide it? None of their business? Private life? Not any more.
Abs: I didn’t think anyone would catch that one about the Internet cables. Well, you know what they say: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, Internet cables for natural gas pipelines. Putting that aside, I am pretty sure – but not absolutely certain – that the resiudency requirement has been eliminated. For a while now, it has stopped appearing in City of Edmonton ads seeking Police Commission members, I am reliably told. DJC
“The Commission is a diverse group of dedicated, experienced individuals who live and work in our community and represent all Edmontonians on policing matters.” https://edmontonpolicecommission.com/about/commissioners-staff/
Perhaps the entire Edmonton Police Service could join Mr. McDougall in Portugal and together use Zoom to patrol the streets and catch crooks.
Perhaps the new Edmonton Chief of Police can work out of an office in Paris. The one in France, not Ontario. Apparently, as long as there is internet, not a problem. If Paris was good enough for Count Basie it will be fine for the new Chief.
Every one of the dozens and dozens of UCP cabinet ministers has no idea about the concept of public service. They are only there to fill their pockets as fast as possible.
One would think an Alberta police commissioner would be loathe to live in a country where all street drugs are legal.
The internet’s there, and it’s no one’s business. By that two factor logic, once the UCP absconds our CPP, we old fogies could join dear John in Portugal year round without residency restrictions. Tit for tat. And keep our ears and eyes open to help John with that. His business? Our lips are sealed. Sounds no more ludicrous.
Portugal. Ironic.
It wasn’t too long ago that the safe drug site operators in Lethbridge, ARCHES, were demonized for spending Alberta funds to send a manager on a ‘holiday’ (attend a conference) in sunny Portugal (leader in treatment of drug addiction and recovery).
But that was then, now it’s a good place for advisors to work from, and remain ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’. But Xenu has a point, how will McDougall manage among all those legal drugs, and effective reduction and rehabilitation measures?
Quite well, I assume.
Is this not a little hypocritical? Wasn’t the issue of local residency (that being in the effected Alberta town) an issue related to the Athabasca University not that long ago. I seem to recall the UCP insisted all the teaching staff and others reside in Athabasca.
OA: Correct.
https://albertapolitics.ca/2022/08/ministers-demand-substantially-unchanged-on-move-of-athabasca-university-executives-many-staff-to-town-145-kilometres-north-of-edmonton/
https://albertapolitics.ca/2022/08/full-stop-to-full-on-in-eight-months-whys-the-ucp-on-fire-to-move-500-to-1000-people-into-athabasca-almost-overnight/
https://albertapolitics.ca/2023/02/athabasca-university-president-fired-after-long-running-disagreement-with-ucp-over-institutions-role-in-athabasca-town/
DJC
Excellent point.
Been to Portugal for Fall and Winter visits often. was there back this last Jan/Feb with Mrs. P celebrating her birthday. Lovely country, lovely wife. We live in metro Vancouver area, however if living in Portugal is one of the qualifications to be an EPS commissioner, I can do that.
What kind of province would we have if all officials did this? Where in the world can I get a job where I don’t have to show up for work? What happened to the principle that if you don’t show up for work, you don’t get paid, if not fired?
This is outrageous, unimaginable and completely contemptuous of democracy and the people. We can only assume McDougall has served his term doing some dirty work for the UCP and can be counted on to vote accordingly on public matters that serve them, like any good neo-fascist. In a way, this shouldn’t surprise us, for the UCP are beyond the pale, acting more and more like a clandestine dictatorship and junta everyday. I think it’s time to declare open warfare on the UCP, as they have done to us.
Akin to my CPC MP for Edm. Mill Woods, who hasn’t lived in the riding, nor the province, since 2008. I’m sure he’s up to date on the pulse of the community from Ottawa.
And just like that he’s gone!