$500 for a night with Ball

Premier and cabinet participating in cash-for-access Board of Trade event

Premier Dwight Ball and members of his cabinet will be attending a $500 cash-for-access fundraiser for the St. John’s Board of Trade later this month at the Geocentre on Signal Hill.

The event was billed as “a unique, one-of-a-kind opportunity to network with some of the most influential people in Newfoundland and Labrador in government and the private sector,” according to an email sent out by the Board of Trade.

The same Board of Trade email also emphasized the fact that, “this is an intimate event with 5-6 people per table allowing you maximum opportunity to network.”

Members of the media are barred from attending; only Board of Trade members can attend, and only if they pay $500 or they make a $5,000 contribution to the board’s “Advocacy Patrons Program.”

If you go to the Board of Trade website, the June 29 dinner isn’t listed on their events page.

One member of the business community, speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could speak frankly, said they would be attending the event so they could lobby government.

“I’ve got to go to push my agenda,” the source said. “I don’t know if the money for this is going to the Liberals or the board, but at this point, I don’t care because I need to be in that room.”

The money is going to the Board of Trade, not to the Liberals. Ball was out of the province Friday and unavailable for an interview, but spokesman Jason Card issued an emailed statement to The Telegram.

“This Board of Trade event will provide a valuable opportunity to engage provincial business leaders at a time when economic development and private sector job creation are foremost considerations,” Card wrote.

“It is important to note that all requests from organizations seeking the premier’s participation in fundraising events are given consideration by the Premier’s Office.”

Card likened it to attending a Memorial University alumni dinner or a Rotary Club luncheon.

Dorothy Keating, chair of the Board of Trade, said this definitely isn’t a cash-for-access event.

“I’m not sure exactly what our members will be raising to government as their specific items,” Keating said. “But the agenda and the purpose of the meeting is to look where we can share our efforts, look for synergies, identify opportunities for collaboration, and fundamentally help grow our province’s economy.”

She said the $500 price for attendance is just because the Board of Trade wanted an “intimate” environment for the most “fulsome discussions” about the economy.

“It’s cash-for-access,” said New Democrat Leader Earle Mccurdy.

“The fact that the cash ends up with the Board of Trade to lobby the government as opposed to the Liberal Party doesn’t change the fact that people are being asked to fork over cash to attend this event, because that’s an event at which they’ll get access to key decision-makers.”

Mccurdy said it’s particularly weird that the premier and members of cabinet, plus federal MPS, are all agreeing to participate in a fundraiser for the Board of Trade.

“Frankly, I think this crosses a line,” Mccurdy said. “I think they’re functioning as an extension of the Board of Trade instead of as the government who would listen to a variety of members of the community.”

Tory MHA Keith Hutchings said that he spoke at the Board of Trade while he was a cabinet minister, but nothing remotely like this.

“This is not transparent and open,” he said. “Are these registered lobbyists? Are they in keeping with the commissioner of lobbyists legislation here in the province?”

Aside from Ball himself, it’s not clear who will be attending. All cabinet ministers and MPS have been invited, but Keating said so far only two cabinet ministers have confirmed that they’ll attend. Keating didn’t specify which two ministers.

Liberal MP Nick Whalen said that he’ll be attending if he can, although that depends on whether the House of Commons is still sitting, and whether the federal Ethics Commissioner clears it.

Under federal ethics rules, Whalen said if it’s more than a $200 meal he has to pay for his ticket, unless he has an official role in the event.

“One way or the other, if I’m in town I’ll be at the event,” he said.

“I’ll have to find out what I have to pay to go, but it’s probably important enough and the feedback will be good enough that it’s probably worthwhile for me to pay the money myself to attend.

Whalen said in his mind it wasn’t really a cash-for-access event because the Liberal Party isn’t getting any of the money. He likened it to attending a charity fundraiser.

“When people talk about cashfor-access, they mean cash for the politicians for access to the politicians. They don’t mean a charity fundraiser,” he said.