Chow Asks Ethics Commissioner to Investigate Ministerial Breach of Ethics at Toronto Port Authority
OCTOBER 1, 2009
OTTAWA – New Democrat Olivia Chow has sent a letter to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to request an investigation into a potential Ministerial breach of ethics into a political fundraiser being advertised by the Toronto Port Authority, a Crown corporation.
A fundraiser for Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt was organised from the President’s office of the Toronto Port Authority. Minister Raitt is the former President and CEO of the Port Authority.
An invitation to the fundraiser was sent by the assistant to the current President, the Minister’s former assistant.
“The resources of federal agencies are not to be used for the partisan gain of the governing party,” said Chow. “It would seem to me that this is a very serious breach of ethics, privacy, and policy.”
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*Text of letter included below
For more information, please contact:
Carole Saab, press secretary, 613-222-5997, saabc@parl.gc.ca
__________________________________________________________________________
October 1, 2009
Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Parliament of Canada
Centre Block, P.O. Box 16
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Dear Commissioner:
I am writing to ask your office to investigate a potential breach of Ministerial ethics rules concerning a political fundraiser being advertised by a Crown corporation. Specifically, I draw your attention to an article entitled “Tory Fundraiser Sparks Uproar” which appears in today’s Toronto Star.
The story indicates that invitations to a partisan event to benefit the re-election of Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt were distributed by officials of the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), a Crown corporation. The email inviting people to donate to the Minister’s campaign was distributed using a TPA email account to an unknown number of recipients.
The article further details that an assistant to the acting president of the Toronto Port Authority “who also served Raitt when she held the job, sent out invitations on port authority email inviting people to attend the Sept. 24, $250-a-head fundraiser at a downtown Toronto restaurant.”
I’m sure you will agree that this story raises real concerns about the conduct of the Minister involved as well as the impartiality of the TPA’s Board, management and staff.
I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.
Sincerely,
Olivia Chow, MP (Trinity–Spadina)
