Castanet

Morneau's firm doing work for the feds

Candice Malcolm
Today at 8:00 AM


New details uncovered by the Toronto Sun show that Morneau Shepell — the firm founded by the father of Finance Minister Bill Morneau — has a contract with the Bank of Canada worth over $8 million.


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When asked if any changes had been made to this contract since Morneau became Finance Minister, Bank of Canada confirmed that there had.

“The original contract granted a right to the Bank to extend the contract for four years,” said Egan. “The Bank opted to exercise this option on Feb. 27, 2017.”

While Morneau Shepell’s client list is not public, the company has created a website (available at bankofcanada.integratedportal.uat.morneaushepell.com) that allows employees of Bank of Canada to manage their pension and employee benefits.

“Welcome to Selection Centrale, the website where you can find personalized information about your benefits and pension as a Bank of Canada employee or retiree,” reads the site’s landing page.

The site displays the Bank of Canada logo and provides a login for Bank of Canada employees. It also shows a 2017 copyright for Morneau Shepell in the bottom right corner.

Morneau Shepell has created similar websites for large client companies, such as Scotiabank and Bombardier. This website appears to be a common tool used by Morneau Shepell to integrate clients.

Cathren Ronberg, Director, Corporate Communications said, “It’s not appropriate for Morneau Shepell to speak on behalf of another organization, whether or not that organization is a client.

“It’s best that you contact the Bank of Canada for an answer to your question,” Ronberg said. “What I can tell you is that regarding any contract with the federal government, these are always awarded through an open, transparent, competitive tendering process.”

This relationship raises further questions for Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who has millions of dollars of shares in Morneau Shepell and is responsible for the administration of Bank of Canada.

As minister of finance, Morneau has significant influence over the Bank of Canada.

He holds the entire share capital of the bank on behalf of Canada and appoints the members of Bank of Canada’s board of directors, which manages the day to day affairs of the bank.

Last week, media reports revealed that Morneau chose not to set up a blind trust to manage his holdings in Morneau Shepell.
That means that when the Bank of Canada made the decision to renew its contract with Morneau Shepell, Bill Morneau was still a beneficiary.

On Thursday, he announced his plans to eventually divest all shares in the family company and place his other assets in a blind trust.

Morneau has said he previously sought the advice of the ethics commissioner on this matter. The commissioner has since confirmed she advised him that his plan to hold his shares “indirectly” via a corporation he owned did not violate the Conflict of Interest Act.

Federal law and ethics guidelines prohibit a Canadian cabinet minister from personally profiting from his or her position within the government.

In order to ensure that owners of companies do not influence federal government contracts within the departments they control, politicians and political aides frequently set up blind trusts or ethical walls in their dealings.

In 2002, then Minister of National Defence Art Eggleton was forced to resign from cabinet over a $36,500 contract awarded to a company owned by his former girlfriend.

That same year, Federal Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay resigned from cabinet because he was involved in awarding a $6.5 million contract to a college where his brother was employed as president. (Both Eggleton and MacAulay denied they had done anything wrong.)

The Conservatives continued to hammer Morneau on the issue Thursday following his press conference and the NDP has called for the ethics commissioner to look into his support of a bill from which Morneau Shepell could potentially benefit.

Morneau’s office referred questions to the Bank of Canada, noting that “all appropriate screens are in place, and the minister has complied with the ethics commissioner’s every recommendation.”

http://m.torontosun.com/2017/10/20/morn ... r-the-feds

But wait, there's more!


John Ivison: Morneau saga proves ministers can't be lawmakers and shareholders


Can it really be that the finance minister did not discuss a bill he introduced? Is it possible that on the two occasions it was on the agenda, he was asked to leave?

John Ivison
October 25, 2017

The problem with telling the truth but not the whole truth is that it foments suspicion and more snooping.

Bill Morneau might believe he doesn’t report to journalists and that his personal finances are none of their business.

But as soon as he entered public life, and particularly when he became finance minister, his financial affairs ceased to be his own.

Inquiring minds now want to know why Morneau appears to have been less than forthright about some of his dealings, specifically with regard to Bill C-27, pension legislation that he sponsored and which may have had a positive influence on the share price of Morneau Shepell, the company in which he continues to hold one million shares.

Last week, Morneau said he had withdrew himself on government files at least twice to avoid a conflict of interest but would not say whether the subject discussed was related to the pension bill.

The Conflict of Interest Act is clear that, if a public office holder recuses him or herself to avoid a conflict, the reason for the recusal has to be declared publicly within 60 days.

The finance minister did not do so, which would appear to be a clear breach of the act, were it not for the fact that the Ethics Commissioner, Mary Dawson, has given him cover once again.

Daniel Lauzon, Morneau’s communications director, said Dawson advised the finance minister’s chief of staff, Richard Maksymetz, that Morneau did not have to publicly declare any recusals if the potential conflict of interest was caught in advance.

Dawson’s office explained that the establishment of a conflict of interest “screen” eliminates the likelihood of a situation arising that would require a recusal.

The screen is an arrangement to deal in advance with files that pose a real or potential conflict of interest. The Ethics commissioner recommended the screen as “the best measure of compliance” after Morneau was elected.

The finance minister said last week that he was “taken out of meetings” on two occasions because of the conflict of interest screen and had no knowledge of what happened in those meetings because, by definition, he wasn’t in them.

Dawson’s office suggested public office holders could be asked to leave a meeting before the last item of business is discussed, without even knowing what the item of business concerned. “This would not constitute a recusal under the Conflict of Interest Act but an instance of the conflict of interest screen working,” said Jocelyne Brisebois, a communications officer in Dawson’s office.

Except….Morneau sponsored bill C-27, an act that would enable federally regulated businesses to create target benefit pension plans that lower the risk for employers and raise it for employees. They are highly controversial and their introduction has been opposed vigorously by the public sector unions.

They are also a business opportunity for pension providers – a spokeswoman for Morneau Shepell last week told the National Post that the transition to target benefit plans could provide more work for her firm.

In the days after the bill was introduced last fall, the company’s share price edged higher, which may or may not have been coincidental.

Can it really be the case that the finance minister did not discuss a bill he introduced? Is it possible that on the only two occasions when it was on the agenda, he was asked to leave the meeting?

Lauzon said there was no conflict of interest – and that if there had been, the screen would have prevented him from sponsoring the bill.

Ethics crusader, Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, has less confidence in the infallibility of the system and the Ethics Commissioner.

He has sent a letter of complaint to Dawson’s office over what he claims is a failure to issue public declarations on recusals from meetings.

He called on Dawson to recuse herself from ruling on matters involving Morneau because she advised him last year that a blind trust was not needed and that a conflict of interest screen was sufficient to protect the public interest.

“That makes her biased in favour of finding Minister Morneau not guilty in violating the act,” said Conacher.

“Now she is being asked in part to judge that her past decisions were wrong, all the while serving at the pleasure of the Trudeau cabinet on a six-month, renewable contract.

“It’s like a layer cake of conflicts of interest, with the entire cabinet stuck together in all those layers.”

The perception that politicians are only in it for themselves has reached ludicrous levels.

The Conservatives claimed in question period that the government only helped bail-out Bombardier because the finance minister has a “personal interest” in the form of Morneau Shepell, a client of the Montreal-based plane-maker.

http://nationalpost.com/opinion/john-iv ... areholders

This kind of situation is more likely to occur whenever wealthy business people become politicians, yet people are always saying we need more business people in politics. A bit of a contradiction, don't you think?

For what it's worth I don't think Morneau has used his position to enrich himself (he's already ultra wealthy without having to pull stunts like that), but I do think he's received some very bad advice about how to arrange his finances following his election. And it sounds as though that bad advice came directly from the ethics commissioner, which is the oddest part of this story.

Even though the ethics commissioner's advice ensured that the way Morneau arranged his financial holdings was legal, it ignored the fact that public perception would probably be otherwise. And as perception is usually more important than reality when it comes to politics, I have to wonder how the ethics commissioner could overlook that fact when offering her advice?

And it gets even juicier!


Finance Minister's Company Received more than $14 million in Government Contracts

By Ali Taghva - October 26, 2017

It seems at least four federal departments and agencies have ongoing contracts with Morneau Shepell, the human resources firm formerly run by current Finance Minister Bill Morneau.

The accumulated value of these various contracts is estimated to be above $14 million, and a report released by the Canadian Revenue Agency showed that many of the contracts were accepted after the Liberal victory in 2015.

The largest contracts are for employee assistance programs, providing benefits and workplace perks for CRA workers in Quebec, the Prairie Region and at CRA headquarters in Ottawa.

Perhaps the most startling revelation though was reported exclusively in the Toronto Sun, the Bank of Canada—which falls under the purview of the federal finance minister—has an $8 million contract with Morneau Shepell. That contract was renewed in February 2017, while Morneau was the finance minister and before he agreed to sell his shares.

Context: Bill Morneau urged the Senate to pass his budget bill and suggested that the Senate had no business re-writing bills that were passed by the House.

Context: That same budget passed multiple contracts to his firm.

Context: Morneau earned at least $65,000 per month from a company that as finance minister he also regulates, while also receiving his salary as the Minister of finance.

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https://www.thepostmillennial.com/finan ... contracts/

Please, people, can we start a Go Fund Me page for Bill Morneau?

Poor bugger has to pay a $200 fine for violating ethics laws. With the millions he made in share price appreciation with the pension laws he introduced, I'm not sure he can afford a $200 hit.


Ethics Watchdog Considering Conflict of Interest Investigation into Morneau

By Ali Taghva - October 27, 2017

The federal ethics watchdog is considering whether to launch a formal investigation into whether Finance Minister Bill Morneau had a conflict of interest in sponsoring a pension bill known as Bill C-27 while still owning shares in his family’s pension company.

The revelation came after Morneau met with the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson on Thursday to discuss placing his personal holdings in a blind trust and divesting shares in Morneau Shepell.

It’s worth noting that this occurred after a very public battle with the media.

A senior government source told CBC News that in the meeting, Morneau agreed to pay a $200 fine for failing to declare that company to Dawson when he was elected.

Pension Bill Conflict

The NDP has called on Dawson to look into what it called an unprecedented conflict of interest over the pension bill.

MP Nathan Cullen argued that because Morneau still held about one million shares in Morneau Shepell he could make millions of profit from the bill, if it passed.

https://www.thepostmillennial.com/ethic ... n-morneau/

If this isn't the definition of corruption, what is?

Shameful, disgusting and deceitful behaviour while claiming innocence. Does anyone out there applaud this travesty??

What I find worrisome is that the public, especially the young, will have been exposed constantly to outrageous behaviour by politicians that they will never know what good behaviour should look like.

It's like the dumbing down process committed by constant assaults on integrity, like the frog being boiled to death, slowly, one degree at a time.

How noble, to donate his profits since he became the Minister of Finance. He's missing the point. He should have divested himself right away, not after he was found out.

The man has passed his "Best Before" date as a minister of anything. Nothing can hide this fact.

Queen K wrote:The man has passed his "Best Before" date as a minister of anything. Nothing can hide this fact.

100% Trudeau's fault that Sour Milk Bill is still Minister of Financial Corruption.

But of course, if Bill takes the fall for protecting Trudeau's family fortune from taxation, then it stands to reason that Justin will keep him in place.

The Honourable Minister Morneau is wealthy beyond most Canadians imaginations. The ethic Commissioner found him in error of the conflict of interest rules. He did declare his Villa but failed to disclose that it had been sheltered in a corporation, a small administrative error of a man with assets in the billions. The former honourable Peter MacKay was found in extreme conflict of interest TWICE and fine $200.00 twice! The honourable Minister Morneau gave up his profitable family business to help Canada who's economy has been left in tatters by the previous government's scandals and dismal economic policies that left Canada in the second of two made by Conservative recession (2012, 2015).
Thanks in part to This Honourable Minister Canada now has the highest growth rate of any G-7 country by a wide margin! Our GDP is up to 4.5 % the largest single increase in 17 years, there are now 450000 new jobs, 300000 families have been lifted out of poverty, this years projected deficit is $11 billion under estimates. Middle-class taxes are down, small business taxes are down, Canada has the lowest corporate tax in the G-7 at 14.7%. Alberta, a major economic driver in Canada's economy is back on her feet leading provinces in GDP!
On the home front in Kelowna our hard working local MP Steven Fuhr reports that the recent statistics from the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission indicate that household income has risen, labour force participation and housing starts are up, unemployment is low, more business licenses have been approved, and record breaking numbers in passenger traffic at Kelowna International continue to bring visitors to the Okanagan.
Your Federal Liberals promised to be an inclusive government and have reached out across the bench to include all parties in all major decisions. Appointed The Rt. Honourable Kim Campbell to chair the most important committee in Ottawa, the committee on judicial change. Included the Conservatives Rona Ambrose and James Moore to help with the NAFTA negotiations. They have changed directions on many pieces of legislation because Canadians asked them to.
The opposition is still tracking in the same routine Canadians voted against with their Vitriol, cackling and spin. The leader of the opposition pledged not to engage with the racist pundit media site the Rebel, bit recently hired a white-supremacist, neo-Nazi sympathizer from the Rebel to run their 2019 election campaign.
The fact of the matter Canadian conservatives are responsible for 75% of all Canadian government debt since confederation. Just say no to their vitriol, and keep them out of our wallets and support the government of Canada, TEAM CANADA!

Is Bill Morneau On The Way Out As Minister Of Finance?

By Burt Schoeppe - October 5, 2017


Bill Morneau is the only Canadian in the last 97 years to be appointed as Finance Minister immediately after winning his first election to public office. There is a reason why political neophytes shouldn’t be handed responsibility for the Canadian economy. Serving as Minister of Finance is a critically important, and difficult, job.

Experience Matters

Unlike American cabinet secretaries Canadian, cabinet ministers serve concurrently in the Parliament of Canada while serving in Cabinet. In modern times cabinet is composed of members of Parliament with one senator. Serving as a member of parliament is a time-consuming job that has a learning curve like most senior positions. Members of Parliament have to juggle their constituency responsibilities with their work in Ottawa.

Serving in cabinet has its own learning curve and added responsibility. That is why it is rare for rookie MPs to serve in cabinet. Minister of Finance arguably has the most responsibility of any position in cabinet which is why that prior to Bill Morneau a rookie hasn’t served in the role in almost a century.

Rookie MPs learn how to handle the rough and tumble in the House of Commons by sitting back and watching. They get to serve primarily as observers of the interaction between the government and opposition during Question Period. Bill Morneau has faced the brunt of the intense opposition stemming from his proposal to change the small business tax regime without much experience watching the give and take.

Morneau has not handled the attacks well. He recently announced there will need to be changes to the small business tax proposal after a 75-day consultation period that was marked by a stream of angry entrepreneurs from across the country. Morneau changed his message after weeks of being steadfast in support for the original plan. The optics of the plan remain difficult for the Liberals as the millionaire prime minister and his even richer finance minister have fought against a small business tax regime they have both personally taken advantage of.

Local Politics Matter

Tip O’Neil, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, famously opined that all politics are local. That truism holds up just as well in Canada as it does in America. Apparently, Bill Morneau does not get that he needs to be a good constituency MP as well as a cabinet minister. Morneau hasn’t hosted a meet-and-greet with his constituents in over a year. His Facebook page hasn’t been updated in almost two years.

Given his relatively easy ride in life, it’s not surprising that Morneau doesn’t get the need to take care of the little stuff. He became president of his father’s company five years after joining the company than ‘won’ the Liberal nomination in Toronto Centre with the full weight of the Liberal Party of Canada behind him.

He was a ‘star candidate’ who was destined for cabinet as a rookie MP. His disinterest in constituency services could lead to the loss of one of the safest Liberal seats in the country in 2019.

Will Morneau Jump Or Be Pushed?

Bill Morneau’s performance as a cabinet minister and as a Member of Parliament currently pose the biggest internal threat to Justin Trudeau’s prospects of winning another majority government. A change of portfolio for Morneau will inevitably be seen as a demotion. Dropping Morneau from cabinet altogether would like lead to his resignation as he has shown very little interest in being a member of parliament. If the Liberals lose Toronto Centre in 2019 that would be devastating for the party.

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https://www.thepostmillennial.com/bill- ... r-finance/

^ Well, finally, a bit of good rumour to add to a hectic day.

Morneau issue flagged for ethics czar weeks before she launched probe



JUSTIN TANG/THE CANADIAN PRESS
ROBERT FIFE AND STEVEN CHASE
OTTAWA
5 HOURS AGO
NOVEMBER 20, 2017


Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson was warned as far back as September that Finance Minister Bill Morneau could be in a conflict of interest over a bill he was spearheading that benefits his family firm, but the federal watchdog didn't launch a formal examination until November when controversy over the matter had dominated the House of Commons for weeks.

A group representing retired Canada Post workers hand-delivered a letter to Ms. Dawson's office on Sept. 18, outlining its concern about the Finance Minister's shares in Morneau Shepell and his involvement in drafting legislation to rewrite federal pension law.

Bill C-27, sponsored by Mr. Morneau, opens the door for Crown corporations and federally regulated employers, including airlines, banks and telecommunication firms, to convert secure defined-benefit pension plans into less-secure target-benefit plans (TBPs).

The Canada Post Pension Advisory Council told Ms. Dawson that Mr. Morneau was receiving dividends and income from his shares in his family's human-resources and pension-planning firm when he introduced the bill, which would shift the retirement savings risk to employees.

Peter Whitaker of the council also pointed out that Mr. Morneau was executive chair at Morneau Shepell in 2012 when it purchased the pension administrative branch of Mercer Canada – the chief actuary for Canada Post.

He told Ms. Dawson that Bill C-27 could benefit Mr. Morneau as a shareholder of Morneau Shepell because the firm stood to benefit from the shift to TBPs. At the time, Mr. Morneau owned one million shares valued at $21-million.

"This will translate into increased cash flows to firms like Morneau Shepell. These actuarial firms would be the big winners if defined benefit pension plans are converted to TBPs," Mr. Whitaker wrote.

"Minister Morneau should have known or reasonably should know that in making the decision to introduce Bill C-27 in October 19, 2016, he would be in a conflict of interest."

Mr. Whitaker, who sent the same letter outlining the concerns to Mr. Morneau's office, urged the Ethics Commissioner to order the Finance Minister to recuse himself from any further dealings with Bill C-27 and investigate him for potential conflict of interest.

Mr. Morneau has defended his actions, saying he followed Ms. Dawson's advice and used an ethics screen in which his chief of staff was designated to make sure he was not in a conflict of interest.

However, he has acknowledged he did not recuse himself from discussions involving C-27, arguing that he did not believe his sponsorship of the legislation was a conflict.

Ms. Dawson's office did not respond to Mr. Whitaker's letter, delivered about one month before the opposition parties asked her to investigate.

On Nov. 9, Ms. Dawson announced an official examination of whether Mr. Morneau contravened federal ethics law when he introduced Bill C-27.

Ms. Dawson's office, speaking to The Globe and Mail last week, defended its conduct. A spokeswoman said that while the Morneau inquiry was launched in response to requests from the NDP and Conservatives, "Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson had been contemplating the matter for some time."

After the questions from The Globe this past week, the Ethics Commissioner's office sent an e-mail to Mr. Whitaker on Friday to confirm her inquiry. Ms Dawson's office said the Conflict of Interest Act as currently written does not obligate her to launch inquiries from complaints filed from the public.

NDP MP Nathan Cullen said Ms. Dawson should have started asking tough questions about Mr. Morneau's shares and Bill C-27 as soon as she got the letter from the postal retirees' council since she knew that the Finance Minister had not divested his shares or put them in a blind trust.

"This is about the integrity of Morneau and Ms. Dawson's office," he said. "They either hoped the problem would go away or they didn't think it was a problem."

Mr. Whitaker said he is disappointed with how Ms. Dawson handled his complaint but he is hopeful the controversy will force the Trudeau government to withdraw Bill C-27.

"The legislation in our view is clearly tainted," Mr. Whitaker told The Globe. "They better get back to the drawing board and start from square one and really have proper consultations before they ever come back with a scheme that would have companies like Morneau Shepell get rich off our backs."

Opposition parties note that Mr. Morneau advocated for a shift to these target-benefit plans when at Morneau Shepell and argue that the firm stands to benefit because existing clients might want to switch to target-benefit plans from defined-benefit plans. Also, they say, the new legislation would require actuarial valuations every year, which could mean more work.

Mr. Morneau's shares in Morneau Shepell rose by nearly $1-million in value in the first few days after he introduced the legislation to rewrite federal pension law, which he had advocated for while still in the private sector.

At the time the bill was tabled, Mr. Morneau was relying on an ethics loophole to continue to indirectly own one million shares in Morneau Shepell.

As The Globe first reported in October, Mr. Morneau ran the Finance Department for nearly two years without putting his substantial assets into a blind trust.

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When he was still executive chair of Morneau Shepell, the company founded by his father, Mr. Morneau helped sponsor a public policy forum on pension reform in October of 2014 that talked up the measures he included in Bill C-27.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/po ... e37027738/

Like I said.

There also seems to be a huge component of "Psychopath or sociopath" to his personality.

Queen K wrote:The man has passed his "Best Before" date as a minister of anything. Nothing can hide this fact.

Funny how the OP makes this an issue with the Libs when it was his Harper CONS that started all this....

https://forums.castanet.net/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=64167&p=1928026&hilit=target+benefit+pension+plans#p1928026