Parliament Hill Renovation Contract Under Investigation for Alleged Unregistered Lobbying
7 October 2010 | Lobbying
The Globe and Mail reports that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating a $9 million renovation contract that was awarded to construction firm LM Sauvé, which had hired long-time Conservative organizer and business adviser Gilles Varin to help win the contract.
According to the report, LM Sauvé paid Mr. Varin $140,000 between 2007 and 2009. In an interview, Mr. Varin said he received monthly retainers during the tendering process and after the contract was awarded, and that the only thing he did on the contract was to get a friend to forward Mr. Sauvé's CV to a civil servant at Public Works.
However, the report claims that Mr. Varin met and discussed the contract with a Mr. Pichet, who was a staffer in a Senator's office and a Mr. Côté, who worked in the Montreal office of the Minister of Public Works.
Mr. Varin did not register as a lobbyist in connection with the contract. According to the report, Mr. Varin said he did not communicate with Conservative ministers or senior civil servants in relation to the contract, therefore he did not register as a lobbyist.
If the report is true, Mr. Varin's lack of knowledge of the Lobbying Act (Canada) (the "Act") could get him in trouble.
Under the Act, the requirement to register as a lobbyist is not limited to communications with ministers or senior civil servants.
According to section 5.1(a)(vi) of the Act, an individual must file a lobbyist return if the 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 contract by or on behalf of Her Majesty in Right of Canada.
Under the Act "public office holder" is defined as any officer or employee of Her Majesty in right of Canada, including any person on the staff of such a Senator or an MP.
If the meetings described in the report are accurate, it seems that Mr. Varin was required under section 5 of the Act to file a return, as he communicated with at least one public office holder about the contract, and was paid to do so.
From his explanation of why he did not register, it appears that Mr. Varin may have confused the requirement to file a monthly supplmental return for communications with designated public office holders with the requirement to file the underlying return for the undertaking to lobby on the contract. While it is true that you do not have to file a monthly report if you do not communicate with "designated public office holders" such as ministers or senior civil servants, if you are paid to lobby any public office holder, you are required to register.