Karen E. Shepherd
Commissioner of Lobbying
255 Albert Street, 10th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5
Dear Commissioner Shepherd:
I am writing to you regarding possible violations of the Lobbying Act involving Patrick Glémaud – acting on behalf of Sustainable Ventures Inc. – and his meetings with staff employed by Gary Goodyear, the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
Sections 5 and 7 of the Lobbying Act require individuals to file a return with the Commissioner of Lobbying if, acting either as a consultant or on behalf of their corporation, that “individual, for payment, on behalf of any person or organization … undertakes to communicate with a public office holder in respect of the awarding of any grant, contribution or other financial benefit by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada.” I note that there is no current or inactive registration listed in the public lobbyist registry for Patrick Glémaud on behalf of Sustainable Ventures Inc. or its clients.
In response to a question asked on April 20, 2010 in the House of Commons, Minister Goodyear confirmed that his Director of Operations, Andrew House, met with Patrick Glémaud, who presented three proposals for funding on behalf of Sustainable Ventures Inc. – and that none of this activity was registered with the Lobbyist Commissioner:
Frank Valeriote Guelph, ON
Mr. Speaker, normally when people vying for funding from FedDev met with Andrew House or other members of the Minister’s staff, they registered those meetings with the Lobbying Commissioner as the law requires. After all, as a former Conservative candidate in both 2006 and 2008, Mr. House knew the Accountability Act well.
Could the Minister confirm that Rahim Jaffer’s business partner, Patrick Glémaud, presented four specific client proposals for funding to Andrew House on behalf of Sustainable Ventures Inc., and while he is at it, could he also explain why none of this was registered with the lobbying commissioner?
Gary Goodyear Minister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)
Mr. Speaker, first of all, the member is absolutely incorrect. It was three projects. None of those projects received any funding.
This government does not give funding to projects that do not qualify. That is exactly what the Liberals used to do. But if the lobbyist who is required to register the meeting did not register the meeting, I suggest the member report it to the Lobbying Commissioner as we have done.
Through this correspondence, I am requesting the following:
• That you confirm that Minister Goodyear did in fact report this matter to your office;
• Information as to what date the Minister brought the lobby efforts of Mr Glémaud with Minister Goodyear’s office to your attention; and,
• Information pertaining to status of any ongoing investigation or other course of action into this matter taken by your office subsequent to you becoming aware of the lobbying efforts and the circumstances surrounding them.
If Minister Goodyear has failed to recommend an investigation into the issues raised in my question or his answer to that question as set out above, and in order to uphold the integrity of our political system, I would like to also request that you use your authority granted under Section 10.4 of the Lobbying Act to conduct an investigation into those matters to determine whether the activities of Patrick Glémaud relating to the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario are fully compliant with the provisions of the act and the Lobbyist Code of Conduct.
Please feel free to contact me if I can provide your office with any additional information.
Sincerely,
Frank Valeriote
Liberal Critic for Southern Ontario Economic Development
M.P Guelph
