Leblanc in conflict over surf clam licence: ethics commissioner
Gerry Byrne ‘disturbed’ by finding, says rules-based approach needed
Canada’s federal ethics watchdog ruled Wednesday that Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc violated the Conflict of Interest Act when he approved an Arctic surf clam licence for a company employing a family member.
Provincial Minister of Fisheries Gerry Byrne said he was “very disturbed” by this because “it highlights the point that DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) has absolutely no criteria or rules around the process of making such a reallocation.”
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said in a report Wednesday that Leblanc knew his wife’s first cousin was involved in the Five Nations Clam Co. when he awarded it a multimillion-dollar licence in February.
“There was no transparency, no guidelines that were clear to everyone involved, as to how this decision would be made,” Dion said.
Byrne is calling on the federal government and DFO to “cease and desist all further reallocation decisions until a rules-based approach has been established for such decisionmaking.”
He said those rules need to be decided upon in consultation with provincial governments and territories, First Nations and Indigenous communities, fishermen and plant workers, processing companies, and communities in regions affected.
Two rules Byrne said should be factored in are adjacency to resources — those closest to the resource should have preferential access — and people with historic attachment to the resource should be given consideration.
In his ruling, Dion said Leblanc should have recused himself from the decision, since it provided an opportunity to further the private interests of his spouse’s cousin, Gilles Theriault.
“A first cousin of Mr. Leblanc’s spouse, Mr. Gilles Theriault, could have benefited financially from an Arctic surf clam licence being awarded to the Five Nations Clam Company,” Dion said.
“If a public office holder is aware of a potential opportunity to further the private interests of a relative through the exercise of an official power, duty or function, the public office holder must be vigilant in avoiding such conflicts of interest.”
The deal, which would have ended a 19-year monopoly on the Arctic clam fishery held by Clearwater Seafoods, was supposed to offer 25 per cent of the catch to local Indigenous communities to help promote reconciliation and economic growth.
But it came under scrutiny after court documents suggested the company did not meet the federal government’s initial eligibility requirements, and that the company had close ties to the federal Liberal party — including the family ties to Leblanc.
“Most significantly, it did nothing to support Indigenous reconciliation because it actually split up existing Indigenous partnerships,” said Byrne, adding the Mi’kmaq Council of Nova Scotia became divided as a result of the decision.
Dion says he decided on his own to launch an investigation into the deal after he became aware of the family connection involving Leblanc and the company.
Leblanc was shuffled out as fisheries minister in July, the same month the government decided to cancel the licence and start the process over.
New Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in August the licence cancellation had nothing to do with the ethics issue facing Leblanc, and he didn’t think Leblanc had acted inappropriately.
Cancelling the licence means Clearwater Seafoods will continue its monopoly until at least 2020.
Despite the cancellation of the licence, Dion’s ethics probe continued.
The deal itself came as a result of a government decision to issue a fourth licence to fish Arctic surf clams in the Atlantic.
A tender was issued in 2017 and on Feb. 21, Leblanc announced the licence had been awarded to Five Nations. He described the company as “comprised of First Nations from Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.”
Later, the Miawpukek Band in Newfoundland, which had submitted a separate proposal, launched a court challenge alleging Leblanc breached his duty of fairness in awarding the licence to Five Nations.
At the time, Five Nations only had two Indigenous partners: the Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick and the Nutashkuan Innu in Quebec.
Court documents show Leblanc not only knew Five Nations did not have confirmed partners in P.E.I., Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, but also indicate that even as he was approving its bid, he was urging the company to quickly rectify the problem.
“Please take next steps with proponent #6 (Five Nations) and ensure that additional Indigenous communities are quickly confirmed,” Leblanc wrote in a handwritten scrawl on the final approval document.