SILENCE FROM PMO, FINANCE ON SILVER

OFFICES WON’T SAY IF TELFORD’S HUSBAND COMMUNICATED WITH THEM SINCE JOINING PRIVATE FIRM

The prime minister’s office and the finance minister’s office both refuse to say if Chief of Staff Katie Telford’s husband ever communicated with them since he became senior vice-president at a major private mortgage company that is now running the government’s commercial rent subsidy program.

“That’s very disturbing, considering that both the prime minister’s and finance minister’s offices are already under serious investigations for ethical lapses in conflict of interest,” NPD ethics critic Charlie Angus said in an interview. “We have ethical standards, and if they can’t answer that question, it really raises the question whether or not the Liberal

government believes that the laws actually apply to them.”

According to his Linkedin page, Telford’s husband, Robert Silver, started as

Senior Vice-president, Strategy, Policy, Risk at MCAP in January 2020. On its website, MCAP bills itself as one of Canada’s largest independent mortgage companies.

Last week, National Post revealed that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — a federal crown corporation — had outsourced administration of the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program (CECRA) for small businesses to Silver’s company last May. The contract is currently worth up to $84 million.

PMO spokesperson Alex Wellstead said Telford had nothing to do with the crown corporation’s decision to outsource the contract, and that she has recused herself from all discussions involving MCAP.

He also provided an internal email showing PMO had set up a voluntary conflict of ethics screen between Telford and her husband when he began his new job in January, despite an email from the Ethics Commissioner’s office saying it wasn’t necessary.

A spokesperson at the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada confirmed that Silver is not currently registered to lobby the federal government.

On Friday, National Post asked both Minister of Finance Bill Morneau’s office and Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Ahmed Hussen’s office — who oversees the CMHC — if Telford’s husband, Robert Silver, had communicated with their offices since joining MCAP. If so, spokespeople were asked to provide all details about the communication, such as the date, which staffer(s) Silver communicated with, as well as the subject of the interaction.

On Monday, the same exact questions were also put to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Though the questions put to Trudeau, Morneau, and Hussen’s offices were the same, the answers were different.

Answering Friday, Hussen’s office responded with a categorical “no” to questions about whether Silver had ever communicated with the minister or his staff.

Morneau’s office, on the other hand, responded that Silver had never reached out specifically to discuss CECRA. When pressed on Monday on if Silver had communicated with Morneau’s team on any other topic, spokesperson Maéva Proteau responded that she had “nothing to add to our previous response.”

The Prime Minister’s Office sent the same answer a few minutes later. “My response is nothing further to add,” Wellstead wrote by text.

Silver has not responded to multiple requests for comment sent via MCAP’S communications office.

For the NDP’S ethics critic, those responses are unsatisfactory.

“The answer has to be clear and categorical: ‘Absolutely not’. Anything less raises serious questions about what’s going on at the Prime Minister’s Office, about what’s going on with Bill Morneau, and also Katie Telford’s continued presence” in government, Angus commented.

The NDP isn’t the only party questioning Silver’s possible communications with government officials.

Sunday, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said he will be requesting that the parliamentary finance committee begin a formal study of the decision to outsource the CECRA, which he called an “utter disaster,” to MCAP.

He also promised to send a letter to Commissioner of Lobbying Nancy Bélanger requesting she investigate whether Silver or his employer should be registered to lobby.