Saturday, November 26, 2005 Globe and Mail

An RCMP-led investigative team will review the controversy surrounding allegations of tainted investigations at the Alberta Securities Commission.
RCMP Inspector George Pemberton, who heads the Vancouver-based Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET), said yesterday he has been asked to review matters at the ASC after receiving a letter from Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft requesting an investigation. He said the RCMP is obligated to follow up on any credible complaint.

"We are reviewing whether there is any justification for an investigation," he said.

IMET is an RCMP-led unit charged with investigating white-collar crimes.

Mr. Taft wrote a letter to the RCMP earlier this month requesting a review of 11 sensitive investigations conducted by the ASC. The ASC has been dogged this year by accusations it had created a "two-tier" regulatory system in which cases were dropped when they involved powerful or well-connected people.
"We're very pleased," Mr. Taft said yesterday. "We are feeling affirmed that the RCMP is taking our complaint seriously."

Mr. Taft said yesterday he wrote to the RCMP following the release of a report in late October by Alberta Auditor-General Fred Dunn. Mr. Dunn reviewed 82 ASC case files, including 11 sensitive cases that had been flagged by employees or members of the public, and said he did not find sufficient evidence to warrant reopening the cases.

Mr. Taft said he is especially pleased that the file has been transferred out of the province to the IMET group in Vancouver. The Calgary-based IMET team normally works closely with the ASC on investigative matters.

"That's an important thing to be done because there needs to be genuine arm's length on this investigation," Mr. Taft said.

Insp. Pemberton said IMET will only try to determine whether there had been any criminal activity surrounding the ASC's investigation of infractions, and would not investigate or lay charges in the specific cases that were reviewed by the ASC.

A spokeswoman for Alberta Finance Minister Shirley McClellan played down the IMET review yesterday, saying the RCMP is obligated to consider all complaints it receives.

"They have a responsibility when they have a complaint to investigate it, and they are doing it in this case," Tracy Balash said.

Mr. Dunn's report said there was no evidence to justify reopening investigations, but criticized instances of poor documentation.