XPost: can.politics, man.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: bc.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   “So his girlfriend/common law wife sets up a lobbying business when he   
   is a minister. What would her expertise be?  Why would people hire her   
   to lobby?  Then he steps in and this is the family business now.  All of   
   it stinks.”   
   ____________________________________________________________   
      
      
   by iPolitics | Jan 14, 2014 9:05 pm |   
      
   Close lobbying loophole, investigate Toews, say opposition MPs Provided   
      
      
   Opposition parties are calling for changes to Canada’s federal lobbying   
   rules following the revelation that former Public Safety Minister Vic   
   Toews has embarked on a new career, lobbying provincial officials in   
   Manitoba.   
      
   “This is the kind of behaviour that Stephen Harper said he was going to   
   clean up. It’s about insiders, it’s about ministers being able to   
   feather their beds and then step into the private sector,” said NDP   
   ethics critic Charlie Angus.   
      
   “What’s disturbing is that it is a loophole – technically he’s not   
   lobbying the federal government because he’s not allowed to but he was   
   the senior minister for the province of Manitoba under Stephen Harper so   
   he had enormous influence and to be able to play on that influence gives   
   him an unfair advantage.”   
      
   Meanwhile, Liberal Deputy Leader Ralph Goodale and ethics watchdog   
   Democracy Watch are calling for federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson   
   to look into Toews’ activities to ensure that he is respecting both the   
   letter and the spirit of the rules that govern former cabinet ministers.   
      
   In particular, they want Dawson to determine whether Toews is now using   
   information he gained during his time as a cabinet minister for private   
   profit.   
      
   “There is an appearance issue that I think would make people a bit   
   queasy, especially in how rapidly this has happened,” said Goodale.   
      
   The comments come after iPolitics revealed that Toews started a new   
   career as a lobbyist and consultant shortly after he abruptly left   
   federal politics in July 2013, working through a company that was   
   incorporated by his common law wife in September 2012 while he was still   
   in cabinet.   
      
   According to lobbying reports submitted by Toews, he has been lobbying   
   the Manitoba government on behalf of four separate clients. Toews said   
   he does more consulting than he does lobbying, providing strategic   
   advice to those dealing with governments. Toews refused to name those   
   clients, however, or to say whether any of them are dealing with the   
   federal government.   
      
   While Toews is in a cooling-off period, prohibited from directly   
   lobbying the federal government, the rules do not appear to spell out   
   any prohibition against lobbying other governments.   
      
   The revelation that Toews is lobbying a provincial government comes only   
   a couple of weeks after the revelation that former fellow Conservative   
   cabinet minister Chuck Strahl is lobbying on behalf of energy giant   
   Enbridge at the same time as he serves as chairman of the Security and   
   Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) which oversees the Canadian   
   Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).   
      
   Angus said the moves by Toews and Strahl reveal a loophole in Canada’s   
   federal ethics rules – a loophole he says needs to be closed.   
      
   “It’s another loophole. If the Conservatives were serious about the   
   accountability act they would be closing these loopholes….There are a   
   lot of loopholes that are appearing now in the accountability act that   
   the Conservatives are driving trucks through.”   
      
   Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also wants Parliament to close what she   
   sees as a loophole.   
      
   “This is a loophole that you can lobby at the provincial level and I   
   think we need to clean that up.”   
      
   May said another loophole has allowed Conservative staffers to move to   
   government relations firms as “consultants.”   
      
   “The lobbying rules in Canada, I think, are far too lax and whenever   
   there is a lobbying rule put in place, the loopholes are quickly exploited.”   
      
   May also questioned why Toews, 61, a lawyer by profession, says he is   
   lobbying and consulting because he needs to work when he would be   
   entitled to an MP’s pension.   
      
   “This whole business of federal politicians resigning from cabinet and   
   then going to lobby the provinces is pretty weird,” she added.   
      
   Goodale, who served in the Liberal government’s cabinet, says the key   
   question may be whether Toews is using knowledge he benefitted from as a   
   federal cabinet minister to advise clients and to lobby for their interests.   
      
   “There is certainly an appearance here of the potential use of insider   
   knowledge and I think more detail is required to really examine what   
   exactly is being utilized.”   
      
   Goodale said Toews and Strahl’s actions are also at odds with what the   
   Conservatives said when Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to power and   
   promised to clean up political ethics at the federal level.   
      
   “I guess what would aggravate people is the rhetorical and behavioral   
   hypocrisy that you see with the Conservative administration. They rode   
   into town on this high horse of accountability and made that the ethical   
   centerpiece of their new government. Then, as time goes by, you see more   
   and more examples where the spirit of what they talked about is not   
   being adhered to in the detail of how they behave themselves.”   
      
   Duff Conacher, a member of Democracy Watch, said Toews could be breaking   
   the ethics laws if he is using knowledge he acquired as a cabinet   
   minister or if he is dealing with provincial officials or people he   
   dealt during his last year as a federal minister.   
      
   Before Toews left Parliament, he was senior minister responsible for   
   Manitoba. Some of the groups connected directly or indirectly with his   
   current lobbying efforts received grants from the public safety   
   department while he was minister.   
      
   Conacher said Dawson has the power to audit Toews’ activities to   
   determine whether he is complying with the ethics guidelines for former   
   cabinet ministers.   
      
   Angus said he believes it is Toews’ past as a cabinet minister that   
   attracts clients.   
      
   “To be quite blunt, who would ever think to hire Vic Toews to schmooze   
   anybody. But it shows that he has enormous influence and power because   
   of his position as the former chief minister for Manitoba. He steps out   
   and right, boom, he’s in the private sector doing this, so it’s   
   disturbing.”   
      
   Angus also questioned the creation of the company Toews is now using to   
   lobby, while he was still a cabinet minister.   
      
   “So his girlfriend/common law wife sets up a lobbying business when he   
      
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