Tory senator defends board position with B.C. mining firm
Sits on energy committee studying legislation on resource project approval
OTTAWA— A Conservative senator who is staunchly opposed to the Liberal government’s overhaul of how proposed resource projects are approved says he did not break any rules when he recently joined the board of a Vancouver-based mining company.
In a statement to the Star, Sen. Michael MacDonald said the senate’s ethics officer “has never indicated he has any concerns” about his board position with Canada Carbon, a mining firm with properties in Quebec that he joined late last year. His membership on the board was first reported by Radio-Canada.
“I have complied with every requirement of the Senate ethics officer and have acted appropriately in all my involvement with Canada Carbon and my work in the Senate of Canada,” MacDonald said, adding that he does not “hold any shares” in the company.
“The inference that I, an opposition senator, in a parliament where the government has a majority in the House of Commons and whose appointees constitute a majority in the Senate, can dictate policy, or change legislation, is obviously ill founded,” he said.
MacDonald is deputy chair of the senate’s energy and environment committee, which is currently studying Bill C-69. The legislation seeks to make major changes to how resource projects like oil pipelines, mines and dams are assessed for approval.
Among other things, the bill takes reviews out of the hands of regulatory agencies like the National Energy Board and creates a new Impact Assessment Agency to lead project assessments. It also aims to make it easier for the public to participate in project reviews, and expands the factors under assessment to include a project’s impacts on climate change, environmental and economic sustainability, Indigenous reconciliation and gender considerations.
“He’s in a position to propose amendments (to Bill C-69).” DUFF CONACHER CO-FOUNDER OF DEMOCRACY WATCH
Federal Conservatives and some industry associations argue the bill creates a cumbersome process that will freeze new development in Canada. MacDonald, a senator from Nova Scotia, has echoed those concerns in the senate and applauded the energy committee’s call for consultations on the bill across the country this spring. He told the Star this week that, with Bill C-69 and its carbon price plan, the Liberal government is “almost declaring war on natural resources in this country.”
A spokesperson for Senate Ethics Officer Pierre Legault refused to comment on MacDonald’s activities with Canada Carbon, citing confidentiality. But the office pointed to a sec- tion of the ethics and conflict of interest code for members of the upper house, and said senators “may participate in any outside directors, such as being a director or officer in a corporation,” as long as they are not cabinet ministers.
A similar rule applies to MPs in the House of Commons, who can receive employment income from corporations, law firms and more if they aren’t parliamentary secretaries or cabinet ministers.
Duff Conacher, a University of Ottawa law professor and cofounder of the group Democracy Watch, said that for any reasonable observer, it is clear that MacDonald’s board membership with Canada Carbon puts him in a conflict of interest.
“He’s in a position to propose amendments” to Bill C-69, which could affect the operations of his company, he said.
However, Conacher pointed to a section in the senate ethics rules that says you can’t be in a conflict if you’re dealing with a matter that applies generally, like the entire mining sector instead of a specific company. He called on Legault to clarify how stipulations added to the ethics code in 2014, which call on senators to act with integrity and avoid even the appearance of a conflict, affect the rules around conflicts of interest.