Canada PoliticsQuestions abound about former Conservative cabinet minister lobbying for Enbridge
Former Conservative cabinet minster Chuck Strahl is under fire after a Vancouver-based newspaper suggested that he is working as a paid lobbyist for Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines L.P..
On Monday, the Vancouver Observer reported that Strahl, who is also the chair of Canada's spy agency watchdog known as the Security Intelligence Review Committee, has been working with the oil company since 2011.
Strahl declared on a December 6, 2013 lobbyist registration that he would lobby B.C.’s Minister of Natural Gas Development, Rich Coleman, to arrange a meeting with representatives from Northern Gateway Pipelines on the subject of “Energy”. He stated that he is lobbying on their behalf until June 2014.
In an email on Saturday, Strahl said he had done "some contract work for Enbridge" before, but stressed he hasn't arranged any lobbyist meetings yet. The Vancouver Observer has since learned that Strahl has been engaged with Enbridge since before he signed on to become SIRC chair.
Strahl did not reply to an email from Yahoo Canada News, but he told the Observer that he isn't doing anything wrong and that he hasn't arranged any lobbying meetings yet.
"I'm always happy to comply with any statutory obligations, including publicly registering in case I arrange a meeting or otherwise trigger the provisions of the [Lobbyist Registration] Act," he said.
The Observer also confirmed that Strahl had been in contact with the Parliamentary ethics commissioner.
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CBC's Kady O'Malley does a great job explaining lobbying rules in her blog post here. Essentially, Strahl — like other ex-Parliamentarians — can't lobby the federal government for five years after their term in office but can lobby provincial governments.
"He just can't," O'Malley writes, "exploit inside information, or his part-time gig at SIRC, while doing so."
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There is clearly no evidence that Strahl has or will do that.
That, however, doesn't satisfy, a couple of left-leaning groups who are calling on Strahl to step down as Chair of SIRC.
ForestEthics — a environmental advocacy group based in Vancouver — released a statement, on Monday, saying that "Strahl's lobbying on behalf of Enbridge raises disturbing questions about the relationship between the Harper government and the oil industry."
It provides further evidence that the government may be using the CSIS to support private oil industry interests (which the government has vehemently denied, knowing it is against the law).
Strahl, a former minister in the Harper government, is currently Chair of the committee that oversees Canada's spy agency, the CSIS. As Chair, he has access to virtually all intelligence gathered by the agency.
The federal New Democrats released this statement.
“Chuck Strahl is a former senior Conservative Minister handpicked by Stephen Harper to replace disgraced previous SIRC chair Arthur Porter,” said New Democrat House Leader Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley). “It should be common sense that someone on the federal payroll, like Mr. Strahl, shouldn’t lobby for a pipeline seeking federal government approval.”
Strahl registered in British Columbia on December 6, 2013 to lobby on behalf of Enbridge. As a former Minister he is prohibited from federal lobbying, but vague guidelines could mean he can use loopholes in the Act to skirt the rules and lobby the province, even on a federal pipeline issue.
“Canadians were already concerned about the federal government using CSIS and the Canada Revenue Agency to target environmental groups and charities – now we learn the Chair of CSIS’ civilian oversight Committee is a paid pipeline lobbyist,” concluded Cullen. “This just further undermines people’s confidence in the fairness of the pipeline approval process.”
And Democracy Watch, an independent democracy watchdog, suggests the ethics commissioner needs to do more.
Ethics Comm. should investigate if Strahl shared secrets with Enbridge, which would violate ethics law http://t.co/m6JVaGTCLV #cdnpoli
— Democracy Watch (@DemocracyWatchr) January 7, 2014
(Photo courtesy The Canadian Press)
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