Canada's Biggest Political Scandal You Never Heard Of
Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 11:46 amCanada's Biggest Political Scandal You Never Heard Of
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/10/05/Canad ... ign=051015 ]
Big oil, taxpayers' millions, call girls and a 'mechanic' named Bruce Carson.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, October 5, 2015 TheTyee.ca
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made convicted fraudster Bruce Carson a top advisor and point person on sensitive files including the oilsands and Afghanistan.
It's probably the biggest political scandal you've never heard of.
The tale involves Big Oil, millions of taxpayer dollars, call girls and someone the RCMP describes as "one of the prime minister's longest serving advisors": Bruce Carson.
And it largely took place at Stephen Harper's alma mater: the University of Calgary between 2009 and 2011 with a cast of industry CEOs as well as several Harper ministers and aides, including Nigel Wright.
The basic plan was to use $15 million in taxpayers' money for a university think-tank, chaired by Carson, to foster with industry and the federal government a plan to rebrand the oilsands mega-project as "responsible" and "sustainable" and "clean."
[ http://mikedesouza.com/2014/02/20/feds- ... s/#more-75 ]
The name of that think-tank Carson would run: the Canada School of Energy and Environment (CSEE).
In addition to directing CSEE, Carson also served as the well paid "mind and pen" for the industry-funded Energy Policy Institute of Canada (EPIC).
[ https://drive.google.com/a/greenparty.c ... lXVUE/view ]
Its chief goal was to lobby the government for a "common sense energy strategy" that would deliver "economic prosperity" with fewer regulations.
According to David Keith, then one of the University of Calgary's top energy and climate experts, Carson's thinly disguised political lobbying for both institutes promoted a one-sided perspective on the oilsands and climate change.
"What disturbed me most was that a university think-tank refused to do what a university should do: bring in diverse views and have strong debate. The government and industry didn't want that."
Largely squelched, says Keith, were issues such as oil price volatility; the darkening picture for oilsands investors; the fossil fuel divestment movement; and the growing global call for concrete action on climate insecurity and greenhouse gas emissions.
As things now stand, the RCMP have charged Harper's long-time confidant with three counts of lobbying the highest representatives of the Canadian government, including cabinet ministers, while strictly prohibited from doing so, along with one count of influence peddling. All four charges are related to Carson's work at the University of Calgary or EPIC.
These charges, which could result in a prison sentence, stem from a nearly two-year long RCMP investigation that began with a letter of complaint from the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. The 2012 letter concluded "that Mr. Carson may have engaged in registrable lobbying activities while subject to the five year prohibition."
Patrick McCann, Carson's lawyer (and one of the lawyers acting for another former Harper advisor, Nigel Wright) has denied that his client was lobbying government and says Carson will contest the charges.
Carson told the Globe and Mail last year that he wasn't lobbying but just gathering support for a national energy strategy in 2014.
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... e18611119/ ]
The story sheds light on the Harper government's unrelenting pursuit of its pro-oilsands agenda, and the sketchy people and methods it has been willing to employ to make public policy shaped and approved by industry.
[ http://policyoptions.irpp.org/issues/fr ... oil-sands/ ]
"The whole case shows clearly that [the] prime minister didn't care about the ethics of who worked for him as long as he thought they could help him win and stay in power," says Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa.
"And it shows clearly that the Conservatives broke their promises to clean up the federal government."
- - - - SNIP - - - - -
Worse than Duffy scandal?
Keith is not alone in decrying the government's behaviour and Carson's open collusion with industry on energy policy.
"The Duffy scandal was about trying to cover up an expenses scandal, but the Carson saga shows the rot goes much deeper," says Keith Stewart, head of the climate and energy campaign for Greenpeace Canada.
"Carson could lobby for the oil industry at the highest levels without anyone raising an eyebrow because the Harper government forgot that they work for Canadians, not oil CEOs."
The courts have yet to rule on any of the charges against Carson.
Stewart met Carson just once at an Energy Café organized by Shell in Calgary in 2011 before Carson's energy world came undone.
According to Stewart, when Stewart introduced himself, Carson blurted: "Will you take down that blog you wrote about me?"
Stewart's blog detailed EPIC's lobbying efforts. But Carson was most upset that Stewart had mentioned that the former advisor had been disbarred as a lawyer.
The blog remains.
But EPIC, CSEE and H20 Pros are now defunct institutions.
- - -
Andrew Nikiforuk's new book is Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider's Stand Against the World's Most Powerful Industry.
[ http://www.greystonebooks.com/book_deta ... 1771640763 ]
Nikiforuk is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about the energy industry for two decades and is a contributing editor to The Tyee. Find his previous stories here: [ http://thetyee.ca/Bios/Andrew_Nikiforuk/ ].
= = =
CANADA'S NO-TEETH LOBBYING ACT
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/10/05/Canad ... ign=051015 ]
The 1989 Lobbying Act bans public office holders from lobbying for five years after they have left office.
The act requires anyone paid to communicate or set up meetings with federal public office holders on a variety of subjects set out in the statute to register their activities in the Registry of Lobbyists, a federal list with more than 5,000 names.
The act, however, is weakly enforced and full of loopholes. Between 2005 and 2010, the nation's lobbying commissioner referred only 11 cases to the RCMP. No charges were laid.
Since then the Office of the Lobbying Commissioner, the RCMP and Crown prosecutors have decided not to penalize 67 lobbyists caught violating the act and Lobbyists' Code of Conduct.
Their identities have been kept secret.
To date, only one person has been found guilty of violating the act, and only two other people have been charged with violating it, including Bruce Carson.
Democracy Watch calculates that nearly 1,600 people have violated the Lobbying Act and Lobbyists' Code of Conduct since 2004, but that 95 per cent of them were not caught and that 81 per cent were left off the hook.
"Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd has clearly failed to enforce the federal lobbying law and code effectively as she has failed to even name and shame 81 per cent of the lobbyists caught violating the law," said Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa in a 2015 press release.
"Together with the RCMP and Crown prosecutors, she has a negligently weak enforcement record as bad as the former integrity commissioner's record, and so Democracy Watch is calling on the auditor general to do a similar review as the auditor did in 2010 of the former integrity commissioner's performance."
Conacher says the act needs to be strengthened as recommended by a 2012 report by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information to end secret and unethical lobbying.
The Harper government promised during the 2006 election to end secret lobbying of the federal government, but to date it has not kept its promise. -- Andrew Nikiforuk
= = = = = =
RELATED:
Bruce Carson Scandal Greased by Harper's Oil Sands Agenda - April 27, 2011
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/27/CarsonOilSands/ ]
Taxpayer millions set up PM advisor to push petro interests from U of Calgary. A special Tyee investigation.
Bruce Carson's Fingerprints on 'National Energy Strategy' - July 21, 2011
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/07/21/CarsonStrategy/ ]
Kanananskis agreement was framed by former Harper top aide before scandals, investigation.
Carson likely to elude ethics punishment: Democracy Watch - April 27, 2011
[ http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal ... ics-avoid/ ]
Read more:
Energy:
[ http://thetyee.ca/Topic/Energy/ ]
Federal Politics:
[ http://thetyee.ca/Topic/Federal-Politics/ ]
Environment:
[ http://thetyee.ca/Topic/Environment/ ]
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/10/05/Canad ... ign=051015 ]
Big oil, taxpayers' millions, call girls and a 'mechanic' named Bruce Carson.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, October 5, 2015 TheTyee.ca
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made convicted fraudster Bruce Carson a top advisor and point person on sensitive files including the oilsands and Afghanistan.
It's probably the biggest political scandal you've never heard of.
The tale involves Big Oil, millions of taxpayer dollars, call girls and someone the RCMP describes as "one of the prime minister's longest serving advisors": Bruce Carson.
And it largely took place at Stephen Harper's alma mater: the University of Calgary between 2009 and 2011 with a cast of industry CEOs as well as several Harper ministers and aides, including Nigel Wright.
The basic plan was to use $15 million in taxpayers' money for a university think-tank, chaired by Carson, to foster with industry and the federal government a plan to rebrand the oilsands mega-project as "responsible" and "sustainable" and "clean."
[ http://mikedesouza.com/2014/02/20/feds- ... s/#more-75 ]
The name of that think-tank Carson would run: the Canada School of Energy and Environment (CSEE).
In addition to directing CSEE, Carson also served as the well paid "mind and pen" for the industry-funded Energy Policy Institute of Canada (EPIC).
[ https://drive.google.com/a/greenparty.c ... lXVUE/view ]
Its chief goal was to lobby the government for a "common sense energy strategy" that would deliver "economic prosperity" with fewer regulations.
According to David Keith, then one of the University of Calgary's top energy and climate experts, Carson's thinly disguised political lobbying for both institutes promoted a one-sided perspective on the oilsands and climate change.
"What disturbed me most was that a university think-tank refused to do what a university should do: bring in diverse views and have strong debate. The government and industry didn't want that."
Largely squelched, says Keith, were issues such as oil price volatility; the darkening picture for oilsands investors; the fossil fuel divestment movement; and the growing global call for concrete action on climate insecurity and greenhouse gas emissions.
As things now stand, the RCMP have charged Harper's long-time confidant with three counts of lobbying the highest representatives of the Canadian government, including cabinet ministers, while strictly prohibited from doing so, along with one count of influence peddling. All four charges are related to Carson's work at the University of Calgary or EPIC.
These charges, which could result in a prison sentence, stem from a nearly two-year long RCMP investigation that began with a letter of complaint from the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. The 2012 letter concluded "that Mr. Carson may have engaged in registrable lobbying activities while subject to the five year prohibition."
Patrick McCann, Carson's lawyer (and one of the lawyers acting for another former Harper advisor, Nigel Wright) has denied that his client was lobbying government and says Carson will contest the charges.
Carson told the Globe and Mail last year that he wasn't lobbying but just gathering support for a national energy strategy in 2014.
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... e18611119/ ]
The story sheds light on the Harper government's unrelenting pursuit of its pro-oilsands agenda, and the sketchy people and methods it has been willing to employ to make public policy shaped and approved by industry.
[ http://policyoptions.irpp.org/issues/fr ... oil-sands/ ]
"The whole case shows clearly that [the] prime minister didn't care about the ethics of who worked for him as long as he thought they could help him win and stay in power," says Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa.
"And it shows clearly that the Conservatives broke their promises to clean up the federal government."
- - - - SNIP - - - - -
Worse than Duffy scandal?
Keith is not alone in decrying the government's behaviour and Carson's open collusion with industry on energy policy.
"The Duffy scandal was about trying to cover up an expenses scandal, but the Carson saga shows the rot goes much deeper," says Keith Stewart, head of the climate and energy campaign for Greenpeace Canada.
"Carson could lobby for the oil industry at the highest levels without anyone raising an eyebrow because the Harper government forgot that they work for Canadians, not oil CEOs."
The courts have yet to rule on any of the charges against Carson.
Stewart met Carson just once at an Energy Café organized by Shell in Calgary in 2011 before Carson's energy world came undone.
According to Stewart, when Stewart introduced himself, Carson blurted: "Will you take down that blog you wrote about me?"
Stewart's blog detailed EPIC's lobbying efforts. But Carson was most upset that Stewart had mentioned that the former advisor had been disbarred as a lawyer.
The blog remains.
But EPIC, CSEE and H20 Pros are now defunct institutions.
- - -
Andrew Nikiforuk's new book is Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider's Stand Against the World's Most Powerful Industry.
[ http://www.greystonebooks.com/book_deta ... 1771640763 ]
Nikiforuk is an award-winning journalist who has been writing about the energy industry for two decades and is a contributing editor to The Tyee. Find his previous stories here: [ http://thetyee.ca/Bios/Andrew_Nikiforuk/ ].
= = =
CANADA'S NO-TEETH LOBBYING ACT
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2015/10/05/Canad ... ign=051015 ]
The 1989 Lobbying Act bans public office holders from lobbying for five years after they have left office.
The act requires anyone paid to communicate or set up meetings with federal public office holders on a variety of subjects set out in the statute to register their activities in the Registry of Lobbyists, a federal list with more than 5,000 names.
The act, however, is weakly enforced and full of loopholes. Between 2005 and 2010, the nation's lobbying commissioner referred only 11 cases to the RCMP. No charges were laid.
Since then the Office of the Lobbying Commissioner, the RCMP and Crown prosecutors have decided not to penalize 67 lobbyists caught violating the act and Lobbyists' Code of Conduct.
Their identities have been kept secret.
To date, only one person has been found guilty of violating the act, and only two other people have been charged with violating it, including Bruce Carson.
Democracy Watch calculates that nearly 1,600 people have violated the Lobbying Act and Lobbyists' Code of Conduct since 2004, but that 95 per cent of them were not caught and that 81 per cent were left off the hook.
"Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd has clearly failed to enforce the federal lobbying law and code effectively as she has failed to even name and shame 81 per cent of the lobbyists caught violating the law," said Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa in a 2015 press release.
"Together with the RCMP and Crown prosecutors, she has a negligently weak enforcement record as bad as the former integrity commissioner's record, and so Democracy Watch is calling on the auditor general to do a similar review as the auditor did in 2010 of the former integrity commissioner's performance."
Conacher says the act needs to be strengthened as recommended by a 2012 report by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information to end secret and unethical lobbying.
The Harper government promised during the 2006 election to end secret lobbying of the federal government, but to date it has not kept its promise. -- Andrew Nikiforuk
= = = = = =
RELATED:
Bruce Carson Scandal Greased by Harper's Oil Sands Agenda - April 27, 2011
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/27/CarsonOilSands/ ]
Taxpayer millions set up PM advisor to push petro interests from U of Calgary. A special Tyee investigation.
Bruce Carson's Fingerprints on 'National Energy Strategy' - July 21, 2011
[ http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/07/21/CarsonStrategy/ ]
Kanananskis agreement was framed by former Harper top aide before scandals, investigation.
Carson likely to elude ethics punishment: Democracy Watch - April 27, 2011
[ http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal ... ics-avoid/ ]
Read more:
Energy:
[ http://thetyee.ca/Topic/Energy/ ]
Federal Politics:
[ http://thetyee.ca/Topic/Federal-Politics/ ]
Environment:
[ http://thetyee.ca/Topic/Environment/ ]