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The committee of MLAs tasked with overseeing electoral boundaries hit another road block in its hunt for an independent advisory panel chair after the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) said it will not participate in the process.
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UCP MLA and special committee chairman Brandon Lunty sent a letter to the CBA on May 12 asking it to circulate a call for applications for the independent advisory panel chair. The request came after the committee learned the courts will not be participating.
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At a committee meeting on May 12, the Opposition read a letter from acting Alberta Chief Justice Dawn Pentelechuk, who said the courts would not circulate the request or provide input on selecting a chair because of the “irregularity” of the process and based on advice.
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CBA Alberta branch president Christopher Samuel wrote in a letter to Lunty on May 14 saying that since Pentelechuk said the courts will not be circulating the request, the association will be doing the same.
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“The chief justices are the proper entities to circulate this notice, and it would be inappropriate for the CBA to circumvent their decision,” Samuel wrote.
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In a statement to Postmedia, Lunty did not say if the committee will review how it proceeds with selecting a chair or if the letter from the association hinders the committee’s work. Lunty only said the deadline for applications was extended until Tuesday. The deadline was originally May 14.
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“A meeting to review the expressions of interest will be called in due course,” Lunty said.
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The UCP majority committee passed a motion on May 12 to circulate its request for appointments to not only the CBA but the presidents of all post-secondary institutions, the ministry of justice and the Law Society of Alberta.
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Alberta NDP MLA and committee member Kathleen Ganley called the UCP members’ attempts to bypass the judiciary inappropriate.
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She said the response from the association and Pentelechuk speak to a larger issue in the process, repeating her previous statements calling the process illegitimate.
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“I wish it meant more for the process,” Ganley said.
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“Normally, having the chief justice of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association look at a process and be like, ‘No thanks,’ that should give anyone pause, but I sincerely doubt that it will give the UCP pause in this case.”
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