Opposition MPs claim two Cabinet ministers and top government MPs and Senators are abusing their privileged status by hosting a private reception on Parliament Hill for the exclusive Conservative-connected Albany Club of Toronto to drum up new members and promote itself.Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.), presiding over plans to cut $4-billion from public service spending over the next year, is billed as the “special guest” for the cozy gathering on Dec. 1 in the historic Senate Banking and Committee room on the main marbled floor of the Centre Block, an ornate chamber off limits to Joe Public tourists led through the building by blue-suited guides.
Emails were sent to all Conservative MPs and Senators last week inviting them to “learn about the Albany Club and its benefits.”
The invitation was signed by Labour Minister Lisa Raitt (Halton, Ont.), Senator Consiglio Di Nino, Senator Hugh Segal and Conservative MPs Chris Alexander (Ajax-Pickering, Ont.) and Kellie Leitch (Simcoe-Grey, Ont.) who were inviting the caucus on behalf of the club’s board of directors.
The club—which describes itself as the only political club left in Canada and was founded in 1882 with John A. MacDonald as its first honorary president—features a well-fitted intimate bar, private dining room and a high-end menu that carries 10 oz. U.S. bone-in prime beef filet mignon, braised Alberta buffalo stew, vodka smoked salmon among the main course fine meals and French valette goose foie gras terrine among the appetizer delicacies.
The club’s website posts entrance fees for the club up to $4,500, with a further $2,400 in annual dues for the business men and women it draws from Toronto, and shows walls and rooms decorated with testaments to every Conservative prime minister of Canada since John A. Macdonald, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.), who was featured among one of the honoured guests at a series of recent events, along with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty (Whitby-Oshawa, Ont.), Defence Minister Peter MacKay (Central Nova, Ont.), Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (Ottawa West-Nepean, Ont.) and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.
Its seven-member board includes Jaime Watt, a key strategist for former Ontario premier Mike Harris, Scott Munnoch, a federal and provincial Conservative backroomer who once worked for Brian Mulroney and John Capobianco, a public affairs consultant who twice ran unsuccessfully for the federal Conservatives, the last time against former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore. The only woman on the board is Toronto securities lawyer Heather Zordel, who is chair of the club’s rooftop development committee.
NDP MP Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre, Ont.), the former foreign affairs critic for the NDP who is now one of the leading contenders in the party’s leadership race and familiar with hosting a range of events for outside groups on the Hill, said those occasions have traditionally involved a range of social or international advocacy groups, or the type booked by MPs on behalf of a range of associations and agriculture and business groups.
“This isn’t the Rotarians raising money for good works in Africa, this is promoting the Albany Club, which promotes essentially the Conservative Party,” he told The Hill Times. “This crosses the line.”
Mr. Dewar said he’s “never heard of” a situation where party members and MPs sponsor outside agencies unless it’s related to Parliamentary responsibilities. “This is quite shocking,” he said. “Years ago, people could do all sorts of things on the Parliamentary precinct and then they tightened the rules up quite a bit, so I find it more than surprising that this kind of affair would be allowed, I wonder how it was booked.”
Sen. Di Dino, a member of the Albany Club who used his Parliamentary email address for RSVPs to the invitation, which also went out on the Parliamentary email system, said he simply booked the room through a Senate branch that provides room reservation services.
He argued the Albany Club is not a Conservative Party association, but simply a place where, as its charter of goals and values says, provides a relaxed atmosphere for conservative-minded people to gather.
“It’s not a political club, it’s a private club. It’s a place where a lot of Conservatives belong, but it’s not a Conservative club,” Mr. Di Nino told The Hill Times.
“It’s like any other, in effect, constituent who says, ‘Gee, I’d like to come and host an event for Parliamentarians on the Hill.’ Lots of them do that, some of them are not-for-profit, some are for profit, some are associations of different industries, some of the industries themselves, you know, automotive industries,” he said. “I don’t see any difference between that and the Albany Club.”
NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.), who has led the opposition charge against Mr. Clement in the Commons during two months of fruitless attempts to get Mr. Clement to answer questions about $50-million in government money he steered into his riding to pay for beautification projects in advance of last year’s G8 summit, said it’s ironic party insiders are lining Mr. Clement up for the private benefit of the Albany Club.
“This is the old boys’ network. They’re sending a real clear message that these are not ministers who are accountable to the people, they’re not accountable to Parliament, but you come hang out at their exclusive club and you get access,” Mr. Angus said, noting that they will probably sign up new members at the event and it shouldn’t be done under a minister’s name. “It sends a message that it’s who you know in the PMO, and that’s how you get what you need,” he said.
Origin
Source: Hill Times
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