  We present a new approach to the covariant canonical formulation of
Einstein-Cartan gravity that preserves the full Lorentz group as the local
gauge group. The method exploits lessons learned from gravity in 2+1 dimensions
regarding the relation between gravity and a general gauge theory. The
dynamical variables are simply the frame field and the spin-connection
pulled-back to the hypersurface, thereby eliminating the need for simplicity
constraints on the momenta. A consequence of this is a degenerate
(pre)symplectic form, which appears to be a necessary feature of the
Einstein-Cartan formulation. A new feature unique to this approach arises when
the constraint algebra is computed: the algebra is a deformation of the de
Sitter, anti-de Sitter, or Poincar\'{e} algebra (depending on the value of the
cosmological constant) with the deformation parameter being the conformal Weyl
tensor.
