A Slap on the Wrist

No one gets fired from the Ralph Reich. They all piggy up to the trough, say they are sorry, won't do it again and all is well in Alberta Land. Unless you are a social worker or other frontline employee of the Ralph Regime. Then you DO get fired, and have to file for arbitration to get justice.

Alta trade rep in Washington to be reprimanded for taking oil firm board job
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein says he will send the province's trade official in Washington a letter of reprimand for initially accepting a directorship with a junior oil and gas company.
Klein said Wednesday he wants to know if former energy minister Murray Smith accepted a seat on the board of Calgary-based Tusk Energy Corp. before or after being told by the ethics commissioner not to. Stelmach has said the matter is closed as far as he's concerned, and Smith won't be fired from his post in Washington.
Klein said what Smith did was wrong because of the potential conflict of interest, although it wasn't a firing offence.
It's not the first time Smith has raised eyebrows over the job he took late last year.
Figures show he is receiving more than double his old salary as energy minister. It includes $223,000 Cdn in base salary and benefits, a tax-free international service allowance of $21,608, a car, accommodation and other perks.
It was Smith who closed Alberta's trade offices in the mid-1990s as a cost-cutting move when he was economic development minister.

Smith blinks
Alberta's man in Washington resigns from oil firm board
By Rick Bell
Of course, TUSK Energy didn't see a problem. Their head honcho called it a non-issue. Murray didn't think there was a problem. He was Murray, the premier's pal with enough clout to score a cushy post right after retiring from politics and not even having to worry if it's perceived as patronage, an evil Murray once campaigned against.Reining in Murray, the premier's compadre, was tougher."But how did this happen without clearing the appropriate authorities? Here again is a member of the Conservative glitterati who think he's in a world of his own, operating under his own rules. He has got to go. "When it comes to credibility and integrity we have a long way to go across this country, all governments have a way to go," concludes Stelmach, of this baby step.

Nope this government has a lot longer way to go than any other in Canada. Period.