Authors: Michael Harris
Wright believed Harper was the one who could unite the Conservatives, and he encouraged Harper to go after the Conservative leadership in 2004. He did fundraising, and was a valued policy advisor. Conservative Fund Canada was created with Irving Gerstein, Gordon Reid, and Nigel Wright as the founding directors. Wright sat on the board of the Fund until he joined the Harper PMO in 2010. The Fund paid for the development of CIMS.
3
Joan Bryden of CP broke the story, and Dawson began her investigation only after the story was published. A Council of Canadians site dated May 17, 2013, says Dawson rejected at least eighty complaints made to her office without a public ruling since 2007, and made public rulings in seventeen. The Council asked for a public ruling in the Barrick Gold case.
Joan Bryden, “Nigel Wright Conflict of interest allegations: chief of staff cleared by watchdog,” CP in
Huffington Post
, August 1, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2014. from
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/08/nigel-wright-conflict-of-interest-chief-of-staff_n _2435040.html
.
201C;PMO chief lobbied by Barrick Gold despite personal ties,” CP on CBC News, August 28, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pmo-chief-lobbied-by-barrick-gold-despite-personal-ties-1.1193101
.
Joan Bryden, “Harper’s chief of staff faces scrutiny over Barrick Gold links,” CP in
The Globe and Mail
, August 28, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harpers-chief-of-staff-faces-scrutiny-over-barrick-gold-links/article4504620
/.
Joan Bryden, “Nigel Wright conflict of interest controversy: Harper’s chief of staff was lobbied by Barrick Gold 3 times,” CP in
Huffington Post
, August 29, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/08/29/nigel-wright-barrick-gold-conflict-lobbying_n_1841180.html
.
4
Cecilia Jamasmie, “Barrick has had enough: Stops construction of Pascua-Lama, mulls stake sale,”
Mining.com
, October 31, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from
http://www.mining.com/barrick-has-had-enough-stops-construction-of-pascua-lama-mulls-stake-sale-89887/
.
Cecilia Jamasmie, “Argentina lobbies to overturn Barrick’s Pascua-Lama freeze in Chile,”
Mining.com
, January 10, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from
http://www.mining.com/argentina-lobbies-to-overturn-barricks-pascua-lama-freeze-in-chile-53714
/.
Cecilia Jamasmie, “Chiles’s supreme court begins hearing on Barrick Gold’s appeal to $16m fine,”
Mining.com
, July 8, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014 from
http://www.mining.com/chiles-supreme-court-begins-hearings-on-barrick-golds-appeal-to-16m-fine-90958
/.
Fabian Cambero, “Barrick strikes deal with Pascua-Lama mine opponents,”
Reuters.com
, May 28, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/28/barrick-gold-pascua-idUSL1N0OE0PS20140528
.
This was an agreement to provide project details to the communities affected by the mine. Construction would not restart until there was a two-year “dialogue phase” that may include payment of an “indigenous royalty.” The situation has parallels with development projects affecting Aboriginal communities in Canada.
5
There were reports that Nigel Wright’s ethical side occasionally caused friction in the PMO, particularly with Jenni Byrne, and even the PM.
6
The call by finance minister Flaherty to the CIBC was also reported in
The Globe and Mail
on May 7, 2008. See Jacquie McNish, “Flaherty wades into Barrick’s CIBC feud,”
The Globe and Mail
, May 7, 2008, page B1, 7. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/flaherty-wades-into-barricks-cibc-feud/article719623/
. See also Doug Alexander, “Flaherty intervened in Barrick, CIBC dispute, Globe says,” Bloomberg, May 7, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2014, from
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aAAVca5V2IwA
.
7
The former president of Goldman Sachs Group had spent the last ten years in China running an elite business school. The $11.9 million
signing bonus did not play well with dissenting investors. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was among the six largest pension funds that opposed the payment. Shareholders voted 85 percent against the payment to Thornton, but the vote was not binding. No one was pleased. The CEO of Caisse de Depot told BNN on May 1, 2013, that he would not have supported the compensation plan for a co-chair “even if it were for Jesus Christ.”
Leaders of several of the investment groups signed a letter dated April 19, 2013, saying, “This amount for a signing bonus for a Co-Chairman of the board is, to our knowledge, unprecedented in Canada and is in addition to other compensation for the year for a total of $17 million in 2012. This compensation is not consistent with the governance principle of pay-for-performance and is therefore disproportionate. It sets a troubling precedent in Canadian capital markets.”
8
In the second quarter of 2013, the investment return was only 1.8 percent, well below the general average return of 3.6 percent on Canadian pension funds during the same quarter.
9
Amy MacPherson, “Where your CPP money really goes,”
Huffington Post
, January 22, 2013. In 2009, a year when pension funds around the world took a massive hit, the CPPIB fund had a $24-billion loss, yet CPPIB executives still received millions in bonuses. CPP contributions of $6.6 billion from Canadian workers helped offset the loss. CPPIB holds a $330-million stake in Barrick Gold, and invested $78 million in Lockheed Martin. It also invested $350 million in Progress Energy Resources in 2009. In 2012, a subsidiary of Petronas announced its intention to buy Progress Energy, which had acquired Suncor Energy’s northeast British Columbia assets in 2010. Petronas offered $5.5 billion. In October 2012, the Harper government rejected the sale as not likely to be of “net benefit” to Canada. Just two months later, the government changed its mind, approving the deal in December 2012.
10
Mike Duffy’s defence team is reported to have a cache of hundreds of emails from Perrin.
11
About seventy-five Canadian mining companies are active in Peru, exploring mainly for gold, silver, and copper. Some in the country see the Canadian government as a representative of the Canadian mining companies in the regions, aimed at maximizing profits at the expense of local people and the environment. See Heather Scoffield, “Harper visit to
Peru targets better use of mining royalties to alleviate poverty,” Canadian Press/CTV News, May 22, 2013.
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1
Victoria Island is in the Ottawa River at the border between Ontario and Quebec. You can see Parliament Hill from the island. It is important in Aboriginal culture, and Chief Spence staged her hunger strike there.
2
On April 25, 2014, in a unanimous eight-to-zero decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Ottawa could not act alone to reform the Senate, appoint only elected senators, or impose a term limit of nine years. To reform the Senate, it must have the consent of seven provinces with half of the population. Unanimous consent of the provinces and Parliament (including the Senate) was necessary to abolish the Senate. Harper said he was “personally disappointed” in the decision. But in effect the Court had provided a constitutional road map for reforms, signed by the Court as a whole, not by a particular judge. At Confederation, the Senate was originally designed to be a legislative check on government as well as to represent regional interests.
3
The RCMP raided the Conservative Party of Canada headquarters on April 15, 2008. After a five-year investigation, charges were laid under the Canada Elections Act against the Conservative Party and four members, including two senators (Senator Doug Finley [appointed August 2009], Senator Irving Gerstein [appointed December 2008], Michael Donison, and Susan Kehoe), on February 24, 2011. The charges included allegations that elections expense documents submitted to Elections Canada were “false or misleading, and that the party had exceeded spending limits by over a million dollars.” On March 6, 2012, a plea deal was reached.
4
Duffy required a second open heart surgery while awaiting charges, and an invasive follow-up procedure. He still has serious heart problems.
5
Saying Wright was “dismissed” prompted others in the party and his friends on Bay Street to defend Wright. Jason Kenney gave a speech at the Albany Club in January 2014 defending Wright, which brought the black-tie Conservative elite to its feet with “thunderous applause” as they hooted and whistled. Gerald Schwartz told
Toronto Lif
e: “I don’t understand it. This isn’t an issue of Bay Street defending one of its
own. It’s an issue of whether a guy of enormous integrity and capability, donating himself to public service for two and a half years, has been treated shabbily.”
According to
Toronto Life
, Harper’s treatment of Wright has made many Conservatives question the prime minister’s judgment: “To the public, the Senate scandal is a baffling, sometimes comical tale of greed, hyper-partisan politicians and of backroom hacks trying desperately to protect them. But to corporate and political insiders, it’s a story of personal betrayal—and a rift that has divided the Conservative party at the highest levels.”
See: Kelly Pullen, “With friends like Harper: how Nigel Wright went from golden boy to fall guy,”
Toronto Life
, March 25, 2014.
6
Interview with Preston Manning, November 7, 2012.
7
Despite Ford’s admitted drug use, most Conservatives have not made negative comments about Rob Ford, who they still believe will help them win ridings in the GTA, particularly in Scarborough. On September 22, 2013, in a surprise Sunday announcement in Toronto, Harper and Flaherty pledged $660 million in federal funding for the $3-billion expansion of the Bloor-Danforth subway line. Harper shook hands with Rob Ford after the announcement. Note the treatment of Helena Guergis when her husband was accused of possession of a small amount of cocaine, a charge that was dropped.
8
According to Brazeau’s lawyer, Gerald Larocque, on June 17, 2014, the alleged victims of the assault and threats case want to drop the charges. Brazeau pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the case was put off until September 5, 2014. The trial date for the earlier February 2013 charges is expected to be set in the fall as well.
9
Informed observers have noted rivalry in the PMO; one even suggested to me that the real target of the leak to Fife was Wright, not Duffy.
10
On June 26, 2014, the Senate Ethics Office announced it would not pursue an investigation into allegations that Senator Gerstein tried to intervene in the audit of Mike Duffy’s expenses. Gerstein has not commented on the allegations made by the RCMP in court documents. Lyse Ricard did not give a reason for her decision.
11
Joe Mont, “Deloitte Unit agrees to $10 million fine, one year New York consulting ban,”
Compliance Week
, June 18, 2013. Retrieved August 8,
2014, from
http://www.complianceweek.com/blogs/the-filing-cabinet/deloitte-unit-agrees-to-10-million-fine-one-year-new-york-consulting-ban
# .
“Deloitte gets one year New York ban,” BBC News business, June 19, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-22958743
.
12
Drew Hasselback, “Livent auditor Deloitte ordered to pay $84.5 million for failing to detect fraud,”
Financial Post
, April 6, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/04/06/livent-auditor-deloitte-ordered-to-pay-84-8-million-for-failing-detect-fraud
/.
According to the
The Globe and Mail
, Deloitte is appealing the April 2014 decision of Justice Gans. See Janet McFarland, “Deloitte ordered to pay another $33 million in Livent negligence case,”
The Globe
and Mail
, July 15, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/the-law-page/ deloitte-ordered-to-pay-another-33-million-in-livent-negligence-case/ article19613388
/.
13
Kady O’Malley, “Ben Perrin failed to protect email from deletion, PMO, PCO say,” CBC News, December 5, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from
http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/politics/story/1.2450711
.; Laura Payton, “PMO emails: 3 questions about Ben Perrin’s account,” CBC News, December 4, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from
http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/1.2449591
.
14
Although no questions were allowed from reporters after the thirty-one charges against Duffy were announced in spectacular fashion on July 17, 2014, “out of respect for the court process,” the RCMP offered more details in a court filing on the charges four days later. The Mounties had already alleged that Duffy had committed fraud by awarding contracts to his friend Gerald Donohue, but on July 21, 2014, they accused the senator of funnelling that money to three other individuals for “illegitimate expenses.” The three included Ashley Cain who worked for Duffy in 2010. According to reporter Steven Chase, Cain had been employed in the correspondence unit of the PMO since 2011. PMO director of communications Jason MacDonald said, “Ms. Cain worked for Mr. Duffy in 2010. This is the first we are hearing of any of this. That said, we are not aware of anyone other
than Mr. Duffy who is under investigation or who has been charged in this affair.” See Steven Chase, “Duffy billed taxpayers for attending funeral, RCMP allege,”
The Globe and Mail
, July 21, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mike-duffy-filed-expenses-for-funerals-ceremonies-court-documents/article19695383
/.