Chrétien ignores lobbying inquiry
HALIFAX • Jean Chrétien has ignored a letter from Nova Scotia’s lobbyist registrar asking if he lobbied the premier about a port proposal during a recent closed-door session that drew a citizen complaint.
The registrar of lobbyists, Hayley Clarke, asked the former prime minister about a March 21 meeting in Halifax with Premier Stephen McNeil and Transport Minister Geoff MacLellan.
Chrétien is an international adviser to Sydney Harbour Investment Partners,
SO WHAT? I’M WORKING FOR SYDNEY. I’M NOT WORKING FOR THEM.
which has been seeking investor support for the Cape Breton container port project. Chrétien is not a registered lobbyist in Nova Scotia, and both McNeil and MacLellan denied he lobbied them or discussed the port project.
Following a complaint from a retired union activist, Clarke sent Chrétien a letter providing information about the province’s lobbying act, and asked for a response by the end of April.
“We ask they (Chrétien) review their activities to ensure compliance and provide a response advising as to the results of their review within 30 days,” says a March 29 letter to the complainant, John McCracken. No response came, Clarke’s spokesperson, Marla MacInnis, said.
The Canadian Press sent written requests to Chrétien and to an associate who often arranges media interviews but received no response.
Duff Conacher, the cofounder of Democracy Watch, said Chrétien needs to clear up the issue before he resumes conversations with politicians in the province.
“He should be showing and documenting that he has not crossed the line that the law establishes that requires registration. If he’s not going to show the registrar, then the police should give him a call,” said Conacher.
McCracken said Chrétien’s lack of response demonstrates that Nova Scotia’s lobbying law is “toothless.”
He said his only option now would be to take his complaint about Chrétien to the police, a move that he’s contemplating.
The day before the meeting, Chrétien had attended a conference in Sydney and told reporters about his role as an international adviser to Sydney Harbour Investment Partners.
When a reporter asked Chrétien how he’d market the Sydney container port to the premier, the former prime minister said he felt the premier would be in favour of a provincewide approach to container ports.
“He (McNeil) said, ‘He’s for the development and he wants development in Nova Scotia,’ and he’s the premier of all Nova Scotia. And there always competition between one city and another. But all the cities in Nova Scotia are in Nova Scotia, but he is the premier of Nova Scotia.”
The provincial Liberal government has been cautious about the Sydney proposal, as a 2016 study prepared for the province and the federal Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency recommended against public money for a terminal that would compete against the Halifax port.
As the interview continued, Chrétien was asked if the province should invest money in the container port proposal, and he replied: “I hope so.”
When asked about another project along the Strait of Canso trying to develop a port, Chrétien replied: “So what? I’m working for Sydney. I’m not working for them.”