OTTAWA – The federal NDP filed a complaint with the federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner today, asking her to investigate the post-government activities of former Manitoba senior Minister and current Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Vic Toews.
NDP MP Pat Martin said this morning he has great concerns about the lobbying work Toews did during the eight months between his departure from cabinet in July 2013, and the announcement of his appointment to the bench in Manitoba in March 2014.
During that period, Toews registered as a lobbyist with the Manitoba government on behalf of four different organizations – Norway House Cree Nation, Whitesand River Group, lawyer Jeffrey Rath and the Metis Economic Development Organization.
Rath was the lawyer representing Peguis First Nation and the Manitoba Jockey Club in a dispute with the province over redevelopment plans for Assiniboia Downs. Peguis had partnered with the Manitoba Jockey Club to redevelop the site, including with a new casino. The province did not want a new casino.
Rath and Peguis have since parted ways and are suing each other.
In documents obtained from the court files in those lawsuits, a statement from the Peguis Trust Account shows three payments totaling $966,500 to a numbered company owned by Toews’ wife, Stacey Meek.
Rath told the Free Press today that entry is a mistake and that the payments were actually made to a different company. He said he is working to get the records corrected.
Meek told the National Post this week her company never received nearly that amount, that it was paid $50,000 for work it did for Rath and never did any work for Peguis.
Neither Meek nor Toews responded to a request for comment on the issue today.
Martin said it wouldn’t matter how much the company was paid, if Toews was lobbying for Peguis that should be considered a violation of the Conflict of Interest Act for cabinet ministers.
In a letter to Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson Friday, Martin said Toews was responsible for decisions about federal funding for disaster relief and flood prevention measures as the minister of Public Safety.
"This raises the question of whether Mr. Toews had ‘direct and significant official dealings’ with the Peguis First Nation during his last year in office, and if so, whether he has since violated post-employment obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act," Martin wrote.
Although the federal Conflict of Interest Act does not bar former cabinet ministers from lobbying provincial governments (it does prohibit lobbying the federal government) during the two-year post-employment cooling off period, it does place certain restrictions on activities.
That includes preventing former cabinet ministers from doing anything which takes "improper advantage" of their previous office, acting on behalf of a person or organization connected to any issues dealt with as a cabinet minister, and providing advice to clients using information acquired while in cabinet and that is not available to the general public.
"As the senior minister I don’t see how you could find a client that you didn’t connect with as minister in some way," Martin said.
Toews was also the senior minister for Manitoba when Peguis negotiated its $126-million land claim settlement with Ottawa in 2010, and was also involved in negotiations with Peguis and other First Nations about the future of the Kapyong Barracks land site.
Martin said he is not sure those activities fall into the time period for which the Conflict of Interest Act would apply.
During question period Friday Martin mocked the idea that if it was only a $50,000 payment, and not close to $1 million, everything is fine.
"She says it was no more than $50,000 tops," Martin said. "As if that makes it OK."
"Would the government not agree it is time to tighten up on the post-employment rules for ministers and their spouses so they cannot exploit their time in public office for personal and private gain," Martin asked.
Paul Calandra, the parliamentary secretary for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, would not answer the question.
"This is a dispute between three indidivuals none of which is the federal government," he said.
Original Article
Source: winnipegfreepress.com/
Author: Mia Rabson
No comments:
Post a Comment