Ghosts of Atcon affair haunt debate over travel-nurse contracts
Health minister invokes 15-year-old Liberal spending scandal as fallout continues over nurse deals
Integrity commissioner who oversees registry
hasn't filed an annual report in four years even
though it's required by law
Published Jun 17, 2024 • Last updated 5 days ago • 5 minute read
Noah Fry, a political scientist from Moncton, says New Brunswick has one of the weakest lobbyist registries in the country. SUBMITTED
Noah Fry wants to know why New Brunswick’s lobbyist registry has fizzled.
2024-06-23, 12:19 PM
Page 1 of 8
The political scientist from Moncton and PhD candidate at McMaster
University in Hamilton, Ont., says since the registry’s introduction seven
years ago, it has proven to be one of the weakest, ineffective examples
across the country.
“Most registries emerge and evolve based on scandals, but in New
Brunswick it fizzled,” Fry told Brunswick News in an interview. “It was
the second-last province to adopt a lobbyist regime. And it’s only a
registry. Some other provinces and the federal government have an
additional expectation that a lobbyist would report meetings with public
officials. That’s just not a thing in New Brunswick.”
Lobbyist registries allow the public to view reports and statistics related
to private firms seeking an audience with public officials, such as a
cabinet member or premier. The idea is to provide transparency about
who could possibly be influencing government policy.
There’s no way for the integrity commissioner
to investigate and fine individuals who are
violating the act.
Noah Fry
In a peer-reviewed paper of Fry’s, published in the Journal of New
Brunswick Studies, the academic argues New Brunswick has a weak
registry because there isn’t enough business diversity in the province.
Large employers are few, and there isn’t enough pressure from industry
2024-06-23, 12:19 PM
Page 2 of 8
itself to create a better registry that would let the businesses see what
other competitors are doing, he said.
“In New Brunswick, we don’t know who’s being accessed, how often,
because the legislation is weak,” Fry said. “We only know there are
lobbyists in New Brunswick who have registered. And you only need to
register if you perform a critical number of hours as a lobbyist, three
months. So a lot of lobbying can be done without needing to report
yourself to the lobbyist registry.”
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Another weakness: there’s little that can be done if someone breaks the
law.
“There’s no way for the integrity commissioner to investigate and fine
individuals who are violating the act,” Fry said. “They can report
violations to the RCMP but they can’t conduct an investigation
themselves and I doubt they have the resources to do it anyway. So it
makes it a de facto honour system among lobbyists in the province.”
Commissioner hasn’t filed annual reports
New Brunswick’s lobbyist registry is the responsibility of Integrity
Commissioner Charles Murray.
Since being hired for the role on Jan. 1, 2020, for a seven-year term,
2024-06-23, 12:19 PM
Page 3 of 8
Murray hasn’t filed an annual report to the legislature, which is a
requirement by law.
Nor has he appeared before the legislature’s all-party standing
committee on procedure, privileges and legislative officers, which was
made an annual duty on March 23, 2023, when the members passed a
special motion.
Other independent officers of the legislature appeared before the
committee over the last year, but Murray didn’t.
Charles Murray, New Brunswick’s integrity commissioner, says he will propose strengthening legislation
following the provincial election. BRUNSWICK NEWS ARCHIVES
In an interview, Murray said he missed one scheduled appearance
2024-06-23, 12:19 PM
Page 4 of 8
because he was sick in February and the second one, in March, was
cancelled by the politicians themselves (he doesn’t know why).
For the first two years as the full-time integrity commissioner, he was
also acting ombud, effectively doing two jobs at once.
He said with the House adjourned and a provincial election to be held
no later than Oct. 21, he doubts he’ll be called to appear until a new
government takes the reins.
We are here to administer the law that we
have, not the law we wish we have.
Charles Murray
Instead, the commissioner plans on meeting with newly elected
politicians in late fall, where he can present a catch-up report that
summarizes the last four years of his office’s activities.
He also plans to present recommendations to them on how to
strengthen the legislation that he oversees.
“I very much believe that we are here to administer the law that we
have, not the law we wish we have,” Murray told Brunswick News. “I
don’t believe in colouring outside those lines. That said, there’s an
opportunity every five years or so to respectfully point out to the
legislative assembly some areas of the law that could be, in our opinion,
strengthened and improved. That’s just our advice we give to them, and
after that, it’s up to them whether they want to do that or not.”
2024-06-23, 12:19 PM
Page 5 of 8
The lawyer added that he’s learned over the years that the appetite for
change is highest right after an election and lowest right before one.
Murray agreed the lobbyist registry had been neglected, but the bulk of
what his office does is to ensure politicians don’t violate the Members’
Conflict of Interest Act.
Twice a year, the commissioner meets with every MLA privately – all 49
– to review their personal finances, everything from their credit card
balances to their business holdings, to make sure they are not in a
conflict of interest with their public duties. If they are cabinet ministers,
the scrutiny is even tougher.
As for the lack of annual reports, Murray said, early on, the pandemic
put that work on ice.
“My original thought was I was going to meet with the committee and
say to them, ‘this is how my predecessor Alexandre Deschênes did the
report. How do you want it?’ It’s fine to meet a statutory obligation, but
I’d like the reports to be relevant, I’d like them to be readable, I’d like
them to be helpful,” the officer said. “It’s to say, ‘look, let’s not just tick
off the statutory obligation box here, let’s have a meaningful
communication.’ But where that meeting didn’t happen, that kind of
froze my process.”
But Murray said he’s given up on the idea the committee will meet any
time soon. He’s had individual conversations with committee members
and believes he now knows what they want.
Part of what he’ll ask for, if the politicians want a stronger registry, is a
bigger budget. Of all the independent officers of the legislature, Murray
has the fewest staff – it’s just him and an assistant – and the smallest
2024-06-23, 12:19 PM
Page 6 of 8
budget, $350,000 annually.
One of those politicians on the committee is Green party Leader David
Coon.
It’s unacceptable that the lobbyist registry
remains in a barebones form.
David Coon
He says he’s talked to Murray privately about the need to have a
stronger lobbyist registry and he’s impatient for the committee to meet
so he can ask questions of the commissioner in public.
“The history of this lobbyist registry is ridiculous,” Coon told Brunswick
News. “It’s unacceptable that the lobbyist registry remains in a
barebones form on a website, run by Service New Brunswick. It should
be so much more.”
2024-06-23, 12:19 PM
Page 7 of 8
Green party Leader David Coon wants a stronger lobbyist registry in New Brunswick. John Chilibeck/
Brunswick News Photo by John Chilibeck/ Brunswick News
Fry, meanwhile, said it was up to the politicians on the committee to
ensure they call regular meetings, ask for annual reports and seek
answers on the lobbyist registry.
“Political willpower still does matter. If the Higgs government or a
different government in the future wants to make this a priority, they
could.”
Conservative candidate didn't register on time as travel nurse lobbyist
Integrity commissioner did not seek fine, says former MLA Brian Macdonald acted in good faith
Brian Macdonald, a former Progressive Conservative MLA, represented Canadian Health Labs in early 2023, seeking to arrange meetings with senior government officials, including his former PC caucus colleague Premier Blaine Higgs.
New Brunswick's Lobbyists' Registration Act requires a lobbyist to submit a return to the provincial integrity commissioner "within 15 days after commencing performance of an undertaking on behalf of a client."
However, Macdonald didn't register as a lobbyist for the company until this year, after it made national headlines.
His registration is dated Feb. 26, 10 days after an investigative report in the Globe and Mail newspaper revealed detailed information about Canadian Health Labs' contracts in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
PC
Party executive director Doug Williams, Brian Macdonald, Premier Blaine
Higgs and party president Erika Hachey. Macdonald has hosted at least
two PC Party fundraising events for Higgs at his Fredericton home. (Twitter)
Macdonald told CBC News that he tried to register when he was hired last year but the process required him to list all of the company's contracts across Canada.
"Despite my repeated requests, CHL did not provide that information," he said.
"When the Globe and Mail reported on CHL around Feb. 16, 2024, I contacted the ethics commissioner and filed a disclosure because I wanted to ensure that my involvement with CHL was on the public record."
Under the act, a lobbyist like Macdonald who violates the 15-day registration requirement can be charged with an offence and, if found guilty, fined up to $25,000.
Integrity commissioner Charles Murray said he did not contact prosecutors because Macdonald has registered properly for other clients, tried to register for Canadian Health Labs and eventually approached his office about the breach voluntarily, albeit months late.
The law is designed "to encourage transparency. It's not designed to punish wrongdoing as much as it is to encourage [transparency]," Murray said.
"It's a voluntary scheme in many ways. So our goal is always to inform and to educate and to correct errors, rather than to punish someone. … Better to register you late than not at all, and better to register you with what information you're able to obtain than no information."
Macdonald said in his public registration that the focus of his work for Canadian Health Labs was "continuing and expanding" the company's business in New Brunswick.
In his statement to CBC News, he said no contracts resulted from his lobbying.
"I was never involved in the CHL contracting process," he said.
Two agreements were signed when Canadian Health Labs was represented by another lobbyist, Jordan O'Brien, a former chief of staff to former Liberal premier Brian Gallant.
Two
agreements with Canadian Health Labs were signed when the company was
represented by another lobbyist, Jordan O’Brien, a chief of staff to
Brian Gallant, former Liberal premier. (Twitter)
O'Brien and Jacqueline Durnford, a colleague at the firm Porter O'Brien, registered as lobbyists for the company in May 2022.
"We undertook government affairs work for CHL beginning in December 2021 and ending in July 2022," O'Brien said in a statement.
In its February investigation the Globe and Mail revealed that the company had three contracts with the Vitalité health authority, with a maximum total value of $158 million.
The company provided travel nurses at rates of up to $300 per hour to fill shortages in provincial hospitals.
Integrity commissioner Charles Murray says it's better to register late 'than not at all.' (Ed Hunter/CBC)
The spending pushed Vitalité $98 million over budget in the 2023-24 fiscal year, an expense the health authority has defended as "unavoidable" given its staffing crisis.
Days after the Globe story broke, the deputy minister for the health department, Eric Beaulieu, defended the agreements to a committee of MLAs.
"It is not an aspect that either the department, the minister, or the RHAs wish to continue long term, but I will say it was necessary at the time they were signed," he said.
Beaulieu said the department knew about the first contract with Vitalité when it was signed on July 29, 2022, but learned after the fact of the other two, which were dated Nov. 16, 2022, and Dec. 2, 2022.
The Department of Social Development also used Canadian Health Labs for a contract for more than $2 million to provide nurses for long-term care facilities from February to May 2022.
The Social Development contract and the first of the three Vitalité contracts were signed while O'Brien was representing the company.
"It wouldn't be my place to speak to details so I would defer to my former client in that regard," O'Brien said in his statement.
Interview request denied
Canadian Health Labs turned down a request to interview CEO Bill Hennessey and did not respond to questions about its use of lobbyists or how it chose them.
"When CHL is awarded a contract, it is a result of its track record of helping Canadians access quality healthcare by solving staffing shortages," the company said in a written statement.
The auditor-general is now examining the contracts.
In a statement, government spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane confirmed that O'Brien played a role in "facilitating" contracts, while Macdonald's lobbying did not lead to new agreements.
Higgs said in March that the contracts were a situation "where it seems like we could have got better value."
In his registration, Macdonald listed Higgs among the officials that he intended to lobby.
The premier's spokesperson, Nicolle Carlin, said Higgs never met with Macdonald about CHL and never met with anyone from the company.
Macdonald also listed Health Minister Bruce Fitch, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves, then-local government minister Daniel Allain, as well as Beaulieu, clerk of the executive council Cheryl Hansen and Higgs's then deputy chief of staff Paul D'Astous.
Macdonald was a PC MLA from 2010 to 2018, serving with Higgs and Fitch.
No law against it
There is no law against a former politician lobbying former colleagues on behalf of clients, as long as they observe a 12-month "cooling off" period after leaving office and register publicly.
The website for his lobbying company, Waterloo Strategies, includes a photo of him with Higgs, PC MLA Jeff Carr, former MLA Jody Carr and two other people.
Macdonald has hosted at least two PC Party fundraising events for Higgs at his Fredericton home and donated a total of $1,680 to the provincial party from 2021 to 2023.
He was nominated as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Fredericton earlier this year.
In March, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called corporate lobbyists "utterly useless," but CBC News recently revealed that dozens of federally registered lobbyists attended fundraisers with him.
O'Brien and Durnford did not earn commissions on the value of the contracts signed by Canadian Health Labs.
They also represented the company in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the firm signed several contracts with health authorities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In his registration, Macdonald listed Higgs among the officials that he intended to lobby.
The premier's spokesperson, Nicolle Carlin, said Higgs never met with Macdonald about CHL and never met with anyone from the company.
Macdonald also listed Health Minister Bruce Fitch, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves, then-local government minister Daniel Allain, as well as Beaulieu, clerk of the executive council Cheryl Hansen and Higgs's then deputy chief of staff Paul D'Astous."
What part of that don't we understand?
Ronald Reagan.
If that is true then why was a lobbyist lobbying the premier for a travel nurse company?
"The oil and gas industry’s lobbyists met with federal government officials a minimum of 86 times in January."
https://environmentaldefence.ca/2023/03/21/irving-tops-list-of-busiest-oil-gas-lobbyists-for-second-month-in-a-row/There is no dept to which NB politicians won't sink.
"Macdonald told CBC News that he tried to register when he was hired last year but the process required him to list all of the company's contracts across Canada."
At the end of the day, if he was unable to register initially, why did he believe it would be ok to lobby and of course get paid.
Why is it that we accept these types or reasons as something that exempts or forgives the party that is not compliant with the regs.
Examples like the clearly illustrate what is wrong in our system and why the authorities need to be far less tolerant of non compliance.
>so the 15 day deadline rule was missed by 340 days. and if it didn't make headlines registering would probly still not have been done.
why do some folks think that "rules and guidelines" don't apply to them??
Brian Macdonald
Biography
Brian Macdonald is a bilingual senior political and corporate affairs executive with a government, defence, and security background. Throughout Brian's career, he has served in various leadership roles in the private and public sectors.
Prior to joining Samuel Associates as a Senior Political Associate, Brian was an executive at Scotiabank in Toronto, where he served as the Director of Crisis Management. As part of a small elite team working with Scotiabank's Operations, IT and Security divisions, he was responsible for enhancing the bank's daily operational readiness and, when required, for acting quickly and efficiently in a crisis.
Before his career in the financial sector, Brian served in an elected capacity for two terms as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick (MLA), representing Fredericton-Silverwood in 2010 and Fredericton West-Hanwell in 2014. During his time in elected office, he was appointed as New Brunswick's first Legislative Secretary for Military Affairs. In this political leadership position, Brian raised awareness about the vital role that the Canadian Armed Forces plays in the province, throughout Canada and internationally. He championed an open dialogue to support veterans transitioning from the military to the private sector. While in opposition, he served as Health Critic. Brian advocated strongly for increased ambulance service throughout New Brunswick and better support for those suffering from mental health illness and related issues.
Previous to holding elected office, Brian was a Senior Political Advisor to the Minister of National Defence in Ottawa. In this role, he was responsible for providing strategic advice and political recommendations to the Minister concerning two strategic initiatives: The Canada First Defence Strategy and the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy.
Brian served with the Royal Canadian Regiment in Petawawa, Ontario. He commanded troops overseas, where he completed two tours in Bosnia and a special security assignment in support of a G8 Summit. He then transferred to the British Army to work as a consultant on the Iraqi Currency Exchange Project and was deployed to Afghanistan on counter-narcotics operations.
Brian received his B.A. Honours from the Royal Military College of Canada. During his undergraduate studies, he also participated in an exchange program to the Australian Defence Force Academy, where he lived and studied in Canberra, Australia. In pursuit of higher education, Brian is a Mackenzie King Travelling Scholar, who received his Master's degree from the London School of Economics.
Currently, Brian resides in New Brunswick and serves on the Veterans Transition Network Board, where he continues to champion the need for better support services to help veterans receive mental health services nationwide. In his capacity to develop next-generation private and public sector leaders, he works as an advisor providing experiential learning and leadership training to two business universities: The Smith School of Business at Queen's University and the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
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https://news.umanitoba.ca/jewish-post-and-news-cecil-rosner-to-teach-new-course-on-media-literacy/
Jewish Post and News: Cecil Rosner to teach new course on media literacy
To help people decode media
April 4, 2023 —As reported in the Jewish Post and News (print edition):
I’ve developed and will be teaching a new course that your readers might be interested in.
It’s designed to help people decode news media, spot disinformation, and it teaches techniques of investigative journalism so people can find information on their own.
These are some of the things I’ve been teaching to journalists, mostly inside the CBC, for the last 30 years. This is a six-week online course open to anyone. The reality is that anyone can use these techniques. They just need to know where to look and how to do it.
It’s offered by my old alma mater: University of Manitoba. Because it’s a non-credit course, anyone can take it, and the university awards a credential on completion.
The course runs May 8 – June 16.
– Cecil
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Postal mail
Regular mail can be a convenient and secure way to send us information. But it’s good to take certain precautions. For example, don’t include a return address, and send it from a post office or mailbox that you don’t normally use.
Also, some office printers add invisible watermarks to paper to trace the time and place of printing, so consider making photocopies of printouts in a print shop or sending a USB drive with screenshots. One thing to be aware of regarding postal mail is that, if you follow the above directions, we won’t have a means of contacting you with any follow up questions about what you send.
You can send us mail at this address:
Investigative Journalism Foundation
192 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 2C2
Tips to maximize anonymity
The contact methods above come with different benefits and tradeoffs. To maximize anonymity, consider taking these extra steps:
- Don’t contact us from a work device or using work internet connection, even on your personal phone.
- Don’t look up theijf.org on your work computer or sign up to our newsletter with a work email.
- Don’t contact us on social media or engage with our posts.
- Consider the consequences of being traced to us via your personal email, phone number or social media accounts. Consider using throwaway accounts to reach us.
- If you have access to sensitive documents at work, can a leak be traced back to you? Would printing, downloading or transferring a file be logged? You may need to get creative. For example, Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, took pictures of thousands of pages of internal reports on her computer screen.
- Clean up traces of your whistleblowing activities, even on personal devices. Delete browsing histories, browser caches, and Signal/WhatsApp/SMS messages.
- Better yet, browse using incognito mode while using a VPN or an anonymous browser like Tor to ensure you’re not accidentally logged into other accounts and that your IP address isn’t logged.
- Don’t tell anyone else that you’re leaking sensitive information to the press. Even if you trust that person, it’s impossible to know when something might slip.
- If your risks are especially high, consider using a public wifi, such as those in cafes, libraries, or airports, to learn about tools like TailsOS and Tor Browser. TailsOS is an operating system that runs off a DVD or USB key and leaves no digital trace. You can use it to create a new Protonmail account to communicate with us.
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