Tory senators Duffy, Demers, and Smith offering services as speakers-for-hire

Three Conservative senators are offering their services as speakers-for-hire through agencies that book public figures to speak at conventions and conferences.

Senators Larry Smith, Jacques Demers and Mike Duffy are all listed with the Speakers’ Spotlight agency and have online profiles that reference their positions in the Senate. The agency’s website does not provide exact amounts the senators charge but lists their profiles among speakers with fees between $5,000 and $10,000 per event.

A phone agent from Speakers’ Spotlight said Duffy’s standard fee for an Ottawa event is $8,000 and increases for longer appearances.

Duffy and Smith are also promoted by another agency, the National Speakers Bureau.

The Senate ethics office says senators can accept honorariums for speaking as long as they are not invited to speak as senators and their speeches are “clearly unrelated to (their) parliamentary duties.”

Duffy’s profile identifies him as “a Canadian Senator and former Canadian television journalist” and says he “provides delegates with a must-have primer on the key political issues of the day.” He “combines the latest buzz from ‘inside Ottawa’ with rollicking political humour, to provide a unique and memorable presentation you won’t want to miss,” the profile says.

“Everything I do on the public appearance circuit (very little) is with the knowledge and approval of the ethics counsellor,” Duffy said in an email. He did not respond to requests for more information.

Duffy’s profiles feature testimonials from an electrical company called IED Limited Partnership and the Canadian Paint and Coatings Association (CPCA), a trade group.

According to a program booklet, Duffy was scheduled as a guest luncheon speaker at a CPCA conference intended to encourage collaboration between the paint industry and government, in May 2009, after he was elevated to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

It is unclear if Duffy was paid to speak at this conference, where then-Environment Minister Jim Prentice, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and senior bureaucrats were also invited to speak.

Smith, the former commissioner of the Canadian Football League, is available to speak about topic such as “strategic vision” and “managing change” according to one of his profiles.

He has testimonials from a sales group from TVA, the Lord Reading Law Society and biotech trade association BioQuebec, which hired him to speak in 2007, several years before his first term in the Senate.

Smith later stepped down from the Senate, ran and lost in the 2011 election, and was subsequently reappointed to the Senate by Harper.

Demers, the former head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, was named to the Senate by Harper in 2009. His Speakers’ Spotlight profile says he talks about teamwork, leadership and overcoming adversity. Demers is an active advocate for literacy.

He has an endorsement from Holstein Canada, an agricultural trade organization whose annual convention he addressed in 2010.

Smith did not respond to requests for comment and Demers’ office referred inquiries to the Senate ethics officer.

Asked about the rules for private speaking engagements, the Senate ethics office cited an excerpt from its 2010-11 report that said senators could accept honorariums for speaking at conferences under certain circumstances.

“If the senator was invited as a senator and his participation relates to his parliamentary duties and responsibilities, the honorarium may not be accepted,” the report said.

“However, if the senator was not invited as a senator, he may accept an honorarium if the speech is clearly unrelated to his parliamentary duties (i.e. given in connection with his outside or professional activities) and the honorarium cannot reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the senator.”

The report cited “leadership and motivation, sports/athletics, negotiation and conflict resolution” as examples of acceptable topics.

“In case of doubt, the Senate Ethics Officer should be consulted.”

Senators are paid $132,300 in base annual salaries, plus expenses.

Speakers’ Spotlight had listed Liberal MP and leadership candidate Justin Trudeau but has since removed his profile from its website. In 2010, his profile identified him as an education, environment and youth advocate. His brother Alexandre, mother Margaret and wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau are still listed on the agency’s website.

Another Harper Senate appointee, former broadcast journalist Pamela Wallin, is also listed with Speakers’ Spotlight, though her profile does not mention the Senate.

“I have not charged for any speeches since joining the Senate and they are all arranged through my office,” Wallin said in an email.

“On some occasions, some groups want to offer a token honorarium, and I have them send the money directly to Military Families Fund. As a cancer survivor, sometimes it is directed to cancer research.”

Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire is also listed with the National Speakers Bureau. His business manager says Dallaire doesn’t charge to speak.

“When he is able to accept these engagements it is understood by the clients that he clearly does so as Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire (Retired) and at no time as Senator Dallaire,” David Hyman said in an email.

Hyman says Dallaire already had a speaker profile when he was called to the Senate.

Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: GLEN MCGREGOR