Former member of Parliament | Sierra Club of Canada calls for conflict of interest investigation
A Canadian environmental group has called for an investigation into whether Croplife Canada president and former Conservative MP Ted Menzies has contravened federal conflict of interest rules.
The Sierra Club of Canada Foundation sent a letter to federal ethics commissioner Mary Dawson June 19 that asked for a formal examination and legal rulings on Menzies’ activities that it suggested may constitute lobbying or exertion of influence by virtue of his former roles in government.
If so, it would contravene the federal Conflict of Interest Act.
The former Alberta MP resigned his seat Nov. 8 after nine years in office, the last two as minister of state for finance.
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On Jan. 6 he started the top job at Croplife, the trade association representing crop chemical and biotechnology companies.
John Bennett, national program director for the Sierra Club, said potential lobbying by Menzies is only part of the group’s concern.
“Croplife says he’s not lobbying, but that’s not the point. The law is wider than just lobbying. It’s actually giving advice to employees or others to lobby,” he said.
“Basically, (Menzies) would have to unlearn everything he knows about the impact of decisions and workings of the federal cabinet in order not to be supporting that lobbying effort.”
Nadine Sisk, vice-president of communications for Croplife, said Menzies checked with the federal ethics commissioner before he accepted his current position.
“Prior to accepting the job as president and CEO of Croplife, Ted did approach the conflict of interest commissioner to receive approval to accept the job, and at that time he was granted the approval,” said Sisk.
“We expect that the commissioner will once again come to the same conclusion that there is no conflict of interest.”
Menzies was travelling in China last week and unavailable for comment.
The ethics commissioner’s office confirmed receipt of Bennett’s letter and said it would be reviewed.
In the seven-page letter, Bennett said Croplife Canada was registered to lobby Finance Canada during the time Menzies served as parliamentary secretary and minister of state for finance. The trade group also communicated with many department officials and politicians when Menzies was a member of cabinet and continues to do so now that Menzies works for Croplife.
“Sierra Club Canada Foundation’s opinion is that in Mr. Menzies’ interactions with Croplife Canada, he cannot avoid using confidential information that he learned while in office, information that has very significant value to any stakeholder given that the cabinet and the government and the decision-making processes on the issue are essentially the same as when Mr. Menzies was a public office holder,” Bennett said in the letter.
Sisk said dealing with the federal government is not one of Menzies’ tasks with Croplife.
“He does outreach in the western provinces,” she said.
“We have a vice-president of government relations that handles our federal outreach. So really, Ted’s main focus has to do with providing leadership to our team, providing strategic direction to our organization, and he does a lot of stakeholder relations work for us.”
Bennett raised concerns about potential conflict of interest when Menzies initially accepted the Croplife job. At the time, the Sierra Club was worried about pending rulings regarding the use of neonicotinoids in seed treatments and their adverse effects on bee populations.
Use of the pesticide was later approved. Bennett said he didn’t know if Menzies had a role in the federal decision, “but just having his name attached to them (Croplife) is a form of lobbying, in my opinion.”
Bennett’s letter is also critical of what is called a “weak enforcement record” of the Conflict of Interest Act.
He said in an interview that the desired result from the letter is that “there’s actually a real investigation of this rather than a cursory nod and a wink that seemed to happen in the beginning, and a report is written that indicates why the ethics commissioner sees that this is a conflict or why they don’t see it as a conflict.”
