Carbonleo executive faces charges of illegal lobbying

The Quebec Crown has laid two charges of illegal lobbying against an executive of Carbonleo Real Estate Inc., the developer behind a $1.7 billion mega mall planned in Town of Mount Royal.

Claude Marcotte, who is executive vice-president of development and construction at Carbonleo, faces fines for violating Quebec’s Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act for lobbying TMR without registering himself as a lobbyist within the prescribed deadline, the provincial lobbying commissioner’s office announced in a news release on Wednesday. Each offence carries a fine ranging from $500 to $25,000.

TMR council voted to approve Carbonleo’s Royalmount project on Sept. 21. The company, which developed the Quartier Dix30 mega mall on the South Shore, unveiled the TMR project in May. It was publicly announced in February.

The lobbying commissioner’s office said in its press release that it submitted a report of its investigation into Marcotte’s lobbying activities to the Crown on Sept. 25. The Crown notified Marcotte of the offences on Oct. 5, it added.

No other charges have been filed in the matter.

The lobbying commissioner’s press release says Marcotte’s illegal lobbying activities were exercised with Town of Mount Royal, without identifying any individuals.

The lobbying commissioner won’t release the report or provide further information because it’s a pending legal matter, spokesperson Daniel Labonté said.

The earliest Carbonleo registration in Quebec’s online public lobbying registry is dated Jan. 19, 2015 and specifies lobbying the “mayor, councillors, director general” of TMR to obtain authorization to change zoning and allow new uses, density and height restrictions to allow the project. The registration names Claude Marcotte and three other people to represent the company in lobbying activities, which were to include meetings, phone calls and written communication. The lobbying period in the registration is Jan. 13, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2015.

The registration also lists lobbying of the “mayor, councillors, director general” of the city of Montreal and the chief of staff at the office of the Quebec minister responsible for the Montreal region and at Transport Quebec to present them an outline of the project.

A person or entity has to register within 60 days of their first lobbying activity, Labonté said.

André Bouthillier, a spokesperson for Marcotte and Carbonleo, said Marcotte has not received a copy of the lobbying commissioner’s report and won’t comment until he has examined the file.

In the meantime, Bouthillier said in a statement that Marcotte “has been duly registered in the Registry of Lobbyists for the period of time which he has conducted any lobbying activities with the Town of Mount Royal in regards to the Royalmount project.”

Asked when Marcotte registered as a lobbyist, Bouthillier said he has no comment.

TMR said in a brief statement that it wasn’t targeted by the infractions and won’t comment further on the matter.