The riding association of Conservative MP Lisa Raitt held a $250-a-ticket fundraiser on Sept 24, 2009 that was organized by some registered lobbyists and which was attended by some lobbyists registered to lobby the department of natural resources. Raitt was then the minister of natural resources. The Liberals and NDP complained to Parliament's Conflict-of-Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson. Dawson issued her report today clearing Raitt of any wrongdoing but calling for a review of the relationship of lobbyists to political fundraisers. Here's one chunk of her report in which we find yet another lobbyist boasting of the “juice” he has with a federal government minister:
Mr. Michael McSweeney is the brother of Colin McSweeney, who was at the time of the fundraising event Manager of Ms. Raitt’s Hill Office. Michael McSweeney is the Vice-President, Industry Relations, of the Cement Association of Canada, a national trade association representing Canadian cement producers …
The first time Michael McSweeney lobbied Ms. Raitt was on March 3, 2009 during the Cement Association’s Lobby Day on the Hill. Mr. Pierre Boucher, President of the Cement Association, Mr. McSweeney and several Directors had a lunch meeting with Ms. Raitt and members of her ministerial staff. Mr. Boucher told my Office that the Cement Association officials initiated a general discussion about a project that the Association wanted to submit for funding under a program at the Department of Natural Resources. At that time, he believed that the project was ineligible under the program.
Mr. Boucher recalled that Ms. Raitt had explained that the project might qualify as a pilot project and that they should follow up with her officials to pursue it. Ms. Raitt recalled having general discussions about the cement industry but did not recall the specifics of any particular project. Michael McSweeney told us that no particular project was discussed but that the opportunity was taken to educate those at the lunch meeting about the overall climate change file, the cement manufacturing process in particular and the cement industry’s thermal capabilities.
The second time Michael McSweeney lobbied Ms. Raitt was during the fundraising event on September 24, 2009, which he attended with a few cement industry officials whom he had invited. Ms. Raitt recalled meeting them and speaking with them for a few minutes.
Mr. McSweeney told Ms. Raitt that the Cement Association had just submitted a funding application to her Department for a project under the Clean Energy Fund. This was the same project that had been referred to by Mr. Boucher during the March 3, 2009 lunch. Mr. McSweeney said that no further details about the project were discussed at the event.
.After the event and later that same evening, Michael McSweeney sent an email to several Cement Association of Canada members and Directors, and to his boss Mr. Pierre Boucher, President of the Cement Association. In the email, Mr. McSweeney reported that he had just had cocktails with Ms. Raitt and that she was excited about the particular project and wanted to have a personal copy so she could “see how to push it”. He stated in the email that she had said that there were $3 billion in applications for a $200 million fund. He said in the email that he would give a copy of the application to his brother Colin, who worked for her, to give to her personally. The email also stated that he had sold 40 tickets to the fundraiser for her and that she was pleased about that.
Michael McSweeney told my Office that he very much regretted and was ashamed of having sent that email, which he described as “self-aggrandising” and “very boastful”, and said that he was just trying to make himself look good. He said that he had only sold about six tickets, and that he did not give a copy of the application to his brother to give to Ms. Raitt. He also said that when he told Ms. Raitt that the funding applications had been filed, she said “That’s great. Make sure I get a copy so I can push for it.” He said he didn’t think Ms. Raitt knew what the project was and that this was a “gratuitous comment” that all politicians make and he took the comment for what it was.
When shown the email during her interview, Ms. Raitt was very surprised and taken aback that there was a suggestion that she would have offered to support this particular project and said that she did not recall having been given any details about it. Ms. Raitt explained that no applications for funding under the program had been processed yet because the Request for Proposals had just closed, that she did not recall saying that she would “push” any particular project and that in reality she “can’t push anything.” She also stated that she had never been given a copy of this application or details of the project by Colin McSweeney. Colin McSweeney confirmed that he had never received a copy of the application.