Albany Club reception on Hill example of 'disturbing' informal lobbying that's growing under Harper's government: Angus

PARLIAMENT HILL—An exclusive reception Conservative Cabinet ministers and MPs are hosting on behalf of a high-end private club connected to the Conservative Party in Toronto is an example of “disturbing” informal lobbying that has grown under Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government, says NDP MP Charlie Angus.

Mr. Angus (Timmins James Bay, Ont.) and Democracy Watch founding director Duff Conacher told The Hill Times on Tuesday the reception to be held Dec. 1, featuring invitations sent to all Conservative MPs and Senators through Parliament’s internal email service, contradicts accountability promises Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) made when he first won power an a clean-up-government platform in 2006.

“I think the problem is we’re seeing a whole new kind of lobbying going under the radar, where people know people, people happen to be there,” Mr. Angus told The Hill Times.

“They’re not technically lobbying, but when you have ministers drumming up support for a private [club], that private club has key lobbyists on the board, if we didn’t ask questions, would those lobbyists have all shown up in the course of meeting all these new prospective members who are Conservative Cabinet ministers and MPs? Most probably, because it makes sense,” he said.

Clement, Raitt may be contravening Conflict of Interest Act by hosting Albany Club on Hill, say opposition MPs

PARLIAMENT HILL—Treasury Board President Tony Clement and Labour Minister Lisa Raitt may be contravening the Conflict of Interest Act and a conduct code for MPs because of their role in a private Parliament Hill reception for an exclusive Conservative-connected Toronto club that includes four federal lobbyists on its board of directors, a federal lobbying watchdog and opposition MPs say.

Ms. Raitt (Halton, Ont.), two prominent Conservative Senators and two high-profile Conservative MPs are hosting the Dec. 1 reception in the Centre Block for directors of the high-end Albany Club, founded by members of the Conservative Party in 1882, who want to promote the club and drum up memberships among Tory Senators and MPs by featuring Mr. Clement (Parry Sound-Musoka, Ont.) as the “special guest” for the elite gathering.

But Duff Conacher, founding director of Democracy Watch, and Liberal and NDP MPs told The Hill Times Monday that the presence of registered federal lobbyists on the Albany Club’s board, including two who are registered to lobby cabinet’s Treasury Board or its public-service Secretariat, and several who are registered to lobby the Conservative MPs and Senators who will be entertained at the reception, puts Mr. Clement and the MPs and Senators who organized the gathering in a position that could conflict with provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act and conduct rules for MPs.