Paul Martin and the Lobbyists
Paul Martin has numerous advisers who used to be lobbyists, and there
are lobbyists who used to be his advisers.
Government observers such as
Democracy Watch say those associations are too close for comfort. But others
say that life on Parliament Hill in general breeds familiarity, and there is only a small pool
of analysts and consultants for parliamentarians to choose from.
Here are some that Martin has chosen:
Earnscliffe Strategy Group – This Ottawa company
has long had ties to Paul Martin.
The company has two sides: government
relations, and research and communications. There were times when the government
relations side was lobbying departments that the communications side was
advising.
There have been
suggestions that a contract the company received from the ministry of
finance when Paul Martin was in charge was unfairly awarded, but there
is no suggestion that the company isn't doing the work it's
been paid to do.
The company's partners
have said they maintain a "Chinese wall" between the two sides
of the business, so the advisers on the communications side are not influenced
by the lobbying side, and vice versa. The company has recently sold its research and polling division to Burson-Marsteller, an international public relations company.
Some Earnscliffe people who are close to Martin:
- Scott Reid is Martin’s senior adviser for issues. He’s
from the research and polling side of Earnscliffe, but also lobbied
for them until 1997. He worked for Martin as his director of communications
at the Department of Finance, and then went back to Earnscliffe until
he got his new job as senior adviser.
- Michael Robinson was head of Martin’s transition team. He was
registered as a lobbyist with Earnscliffe’s government affairs
business until September 2003. His clients included Labatt Breweries,
CPR, AT&T, Foothills Pipelines and CIBC World Markets, among many
others. He has deregistered as a lobbyist, but still works at Earnscliffe.
- David Herle is Martin’s election campaign co-chair. He works
for the research and polling side of Earnscliffe.
- Elly Alboim works for the research and communications wing of Earnscliffe.
He is very close to the PM, and said to be one of his most important
advisers. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Alboim was head of the CBC’s
parliamentary news bureau in Ottawa.
John Duffy – worked on Martin’s transition
team in December, and is now back lobbying on behalf of Stelco, CNR, Bell
Globemedia, Merck Frosst and the Bank of Nova Scotia, among others.
Francis Fox – currently Martin’s principal
secretary, Fox was a lobbyist for Rogers AT&T until last December.
Fox was part of Martin’s transition team while registered as a lobbyist.
Ethics counsellor Howard Wilson ruled it would be unfair to ask Fox to
de-register during the transition, because he would have to resign from
his job. Fox was a solicitor general and minister of communications under
Pierre Trudeau
Ruth Thorkelson is currently deputy chief of staff for
parliamentary affairs. She was a lobbyist for the Forest Products Association
of Canada up to last year.
Paul Corriveau is deputy chief of staff for policy.
He has worked for Martin since February 2003. Prior to that, he worked
for media company RTL Group.
Peter Nicholson is a senior adviser to the PM. He and
his wife are personal friends of the Martins. He resigned from Stelco’s
board of directors in late 2003. He has also worked with Bell Globemedia,
on the board, and as chief strategy officer of BCE Inc.
Jonathan Moser is currently a special assistant in the
PMO. He was a lobbyist for Summa Strategies until last December. His clients
included J.D. Irving Ltd., Unisys Canada and the Innu Nation.
Mario Cuconato is director of operations in the PMO.
He was a lobbyist for National Public Relations until November of 2003,
lobbying for organizations such as Inco, Siemens, Dofasco and the Association
of Canadian Advertisers, among others.
James Deacey is a registered lobbyist for his own company,
Association House. His clients include Imperial Tobacco, Apotex Inc, and
Seaspan. He is also a Liberal strategist, who organized fundraisers for
Martin during his bid for the leadership of the Liberal party.
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