federal accountability act

Just taking a quick break from writing up this week’s ITQ committee lookahead — I know, I know; it’s been ages — but I wanted to point y’all at this little item that I dashed off  for our regular Need To Know feature earlier this morning. Go read it — I’ll wait. Anyway, while writing it up, it occurred to me that it, in some cases, it may be just a teensy bit — I dunno, is ‘unseemly’ the word? — for Conservative staffers to be lobbying lobbyists for work, no matter how discreetly, while still gainfully and exemptedly employed in a ministerial office.

… posted on behalf of Colleague Wells, who received a copy of the following missive in his morning email. What does it all mean? That Parliament can’t get back to work soon enough, that’s what it means.

I was actually going to write about this last year, which was when I first became aware of what is, I suspect, a largely unknown loophole in the Federal Accountability Act, but what with one thing and another – governments collapsing, coalitions forming, parliaments dissolving, Liberal leadership races ending – I didn’t get around to it at the time, and pretty much forgot about it until this morning, when (thanks to National NewsWatch), I came across this article over at straight.com, which reports that CanWest supremo Leonard Asper was apparently in close communication with various key cabinet ministers and regulatory officials last fall:

I’m sure that the PM’s former chief of staff Ian Brodie sends along best wishes from his new office on Metcalfe Street, where he will “provide senior counsel to Hill & Knowlton clients across the country in government relations, whether provincial, federal, or international” – but  “will not perform an advocacy role for clients with the federal government.” Phew. Good thing that line is so clear and easy to draw, huh?

Or the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association might have had to find someone else to take over – the outgoing president and CEO, Peter Barnes, was registered as an in-house lobbyist until his departure earlier this year, and it’s likely that his successor will be obliged to do the same:

So, if Guy Giorno really is off to Langevin to become the New Ian Brodie later this summer, should he still take part in this “exclusive” seminar, hosted by his current law firm, billed as an “in-depth examination of business rights and responsibilities” under the Federal Accountability Act?