From: canada.revenueagency@yahoo.com   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency kept charges against Liberal Herb Metcalfe quiet during   
   election : CRA SOTW   
      
   Tax agency kept charges against high-profile Liberal quiet during election   
      
   Glen McGregor, Ottawa Citizen   
      
   The Canada Revenue Agency delayed announcing that a high-profile Liberal   
   lobbyist had pleaded guilty to income-tax evasion until after the fall   
   election campaign.   
      
   The agency says that when it delayed announcing the conviction of Herb   
   Metcalfe, it was following the "caretaker convention," which limits government   
   communications to only those "necessary for government business" during the   
   writ period.   
      
   Metcalfe, 65, was sentenced on Sept. 30 after pleading guilty to evading   
   $396,259 in taxes he owed on $1.3 million in unreported income.   
      
   He was given a two-year conditional sentence, including one year of house   
   arrest, and ordered to pay the unpaid taxes, with interest, and an additional   
   fine of $396,259 - representing 100 per cent of the evaded taxes.   
      
   But the agency waited until Nov. 19 - seven weeks later - before announcing   
   the sentencing, which was the first public acknowledgment that Metcalfe had   
   even been charged.   
      
   "In keeping with the Convention, the CRA did not post any conviction news   
   releases during the election period," CRA spokesman Paul Murphy said in an   
   email.   
      
   "News releases for convictions that occurred during the election period were   
   posted during the weeks of November 16 and 23, once the Convention was no   
   longer in effect."   
      
   The caretaker convention requires that governments restrict their activities   
   during an election campaign to routine and non-controversial activities,   
   unless there is an urgent reason to do otherwise.   
      
   The principle has not always been observed, however. Notably, in the 2006   
   election campaign, the RCMP wrote to a New Democrat MP telling her that it was   
   investigating then-Liberal finance minister Ralph Goodale for alleged leaks of   
   information about    
   changes to the taxation of income trusts. (The Liberals lost the election and   
   no one was ever charged over the matter.)   
      
   Metcalfe has long and deep ties within the federal Liberal party and was   
   described in a November 2012 Globe and Mail report as an "adviser" to then-MP   
   Justin Trudeau's nascent leadership bid, though those around Trudeau deny he   
   played any role in the    
   leadership campaign.   
      
   Metcalfe was already facing 10 counts under the Income Tax Act by the time   
   Trudeau announced his leadership bid in October 2012.   
      
   Trudeau's principal adviser, Gerald Butts, denied Metcalfe was involved in the   
   leadership, despite the Globe description of his advisory role.   
      
   "He had no role on the campaign," Butts said in an electronic message.   
   Butts said no one on the campaign knew about the charges.   
      
   The Trudeau team was not, apparently, the only one in the dark about what was   
   likely a complex probe into the finances of one of Ottawa's best-connected   
   lobbyists. The investigation began after a routine audit of The Capital Hill   
   Group, the lobbying firm    
   Metcalfe co-founded in 1986 after serving as executive assistant to Liberal   
   finance minister Marc Lalonde.   
      
   Beginning with his first appearance, on June 12, 2012, until his sentencing,   
   Metcalfe's case came before the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa on 23   
   occasions, without a mention from the CRA.   
      
   A statement of facts agreed to by the Crown and Metcalfe's lawyer, Leonard   
   Shore, gives an indication of how lucrative the government relations industry   
   was for a Liberal lobbyist under the Jean Chrétien-Paul Martin governments.   
   In 2003, for example, Metcalfe didn't report on his income-tax return the   
   $310,000 in bonuses he received from The Capital Hill Group.   
      
   He also failed to report the $72,000 in directors' fees he earned that year,   
   $77,786 in management fees, $12,905 in RRSP payments and $15,832 in   
   shareholder benefits - which included the use of a car by Metcalfe's wife,   
   lobbyist and former Liberal    
   candidate Isabel Metcalfe, who didn't work for the company.   
      
   By failing to report a total of $488,523, Metcalfe dodged paying $141,672 in   
   taxes in 2003 alone.   
      
   In total, he failed to report $1,366,411 in income between 2002 and 2006. The   
   Crown said Metcalfe filled out his own taxes, by hand, and either knew or   
   should have known he was required to report the income.   
      
   He had initially been charged with evading more than $720,000 in taxes over a   
   longer period, including tax years 1999, 2000 and 2001, the charge sheet shows.   
   Neither Metcalfe nor his lawyer, Leonard Shore, responded to requests for   
   comment. Isabel Metcalfe said her husband was recovering from knee surgery and   
   was indisposed.   
      
   While he was facing charges, Metcalfe continued to work as a lobbyist and   
   reported having contact on behalf of his clients with numerous public office   
   holders. For U.S.-based Nucor Steel, Metcalfe last year contacted Liberal MPs   
   Wayne Easter, New    
   Democrat Wayne Marston and Conservatives Susan Truppe, Randy Hoback, James   
   Rajotte and and Gord Brown.   
      
   The Capital Hill Group says Metcalfe is no longer involved with the firm's   
   operation.   
      
   - With files from Gary Dimmock, Ottawa Citizen.    
   gmcgregor@ottawacitizen.com   
   Twitter.com/glen_mcgregor   
      
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