Liberal MP brought his own business affiliate on India trip

[Gone_Fishin]

Fails to clear Conflict of Interest Rules:

Liberal MP included his own business affiliate in list of guests to invite to India receptions


Yusuf Yenilmez provided a statement saying that he signed up independently as a Canadian business looking to partner with Indians business looking to expand in Canada

Liberal MP Raj Grewal would not give a yes-or-no answer when asked if the ethics commissioner had reviewed whether the invitations from his office were appropriate.

Marie-Danielle Smith

March 27, 2018
4:13 PM EDT


OTTAWA — Liberal MP Raj Grewal helped secure invitations for his own business affiliate to attend events in India, during the prime minister’s recent trip, apparently without clearance from the federal ethics commissioner.

The head of a Greater Toronto Area construction company from which Grewal profits went to receptions attended by senior government officials in India last month, posing for photos with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, who is responsible for managing Canada’s massive infrastructure portfolio.


In the company’s photo album on Facebook, Yusuf Yenilmez, CEO of Zgemi Inc., also appears in photos with Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, House Leader Bardish Chagger and Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, along with Grewal and other Liberal MPs.

Trudeau’s office has been questioned for the past month about how closely it vets guest lists.

Liberal MP Randeep Sarai took responsibility for including Jaspal Atwal, a man who in the ’80s was convicted of the attempted murder of an Indian cabinet minister, on a list of guests forwarded to the High Commission in India. Atwal’s presence led to concerns the prime minister’s office was not adequately aware of who was allowed to schmooze with Trudeau and his senior ministers. A firestorm in parliament, worsened by the suggestion by a senior security official that the Indian government could be behind Atwal’s presence, hasn’t yet abated.

snip

Grewal began a relationship with Zgemi Inc. about a year ago, well after he was elected as MP for Brampton East in 2015. In a statement to the National Post Thursday, he said the ethics commissioner cleared this activity.


Grewal said he provides legal services to the company on a contract basis, and there had been no previous relationship with Yenilmez. “All legal work involves only private legal disputes and does not interact with any government files,” he said. “Yusuf, the CEO, registered for the India trip to expand Zgemi business in India, registered through the Canada-India Business Council to attend the business seminars. He also reached out to my office to be invited to the High Commissioner’s receptions in India.”

Yenilmez provided a statement to the Post Monday night. “I went to India for business and signed up to attend the Business Networking sessions offered by the Canada India Foundation. I signed up independently as a Canadian business looking to partner with Indians business looking to expand in Canada,” he said.

Yenilmez also confirmed that Grewal’s work “only involves private legal disputes, we do not have any files with the federal government.”

In a subsequent email Tuesday afternoon, Yenilmez confirmed Grewal’s account that he had approached the office for invitations, saying that while he had access to events through the council, “I also called Mr. Grewal’s office and asked to make sure my name was on the list.”

Grewal would not give a yes-or-no answer when asked if the ethics commissioner had reviewed whether the invitations from his office were appropriate.

snip

Grewal added that a conflict-of-interest screen had been put into place by the ethics commissioner. “I have and will continue to follow the screen,” he said.

Although Zgemi Inc. has appeared on Grewal’s ethics disclosures since April 2017, no formal screen appears on the public registry, where all such screens are published — these, according to Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s office, are authorized under the Conflict of Interest Act, which only applies to ministers and parliamentary secretaries.

snip

Grewal did not answer a question about whether the prime minister’s office was made aware that invitations were being offered to a business affiliate of a Liberal MP.

The prime minister’s office would not provide a comment on the record. An official would only say, under the condition that their name not be revealed, that they had nothing to add to Grewal’s response. Asked whether Trudeau’s office had seen Grewal’s statement to the Post before it was sent, the official repeated that they had nothing to add.

http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/l ... receptions

[Jflem1983]

Keep up the good work GF. Need more astute researchers like u digging up dirt on these scummy libs. Too bad we cant intern them all

[Queen K]

Keep up the good work GF. Need more astute researchers like u digging up dirt on these scummy libs. Too bad we cant intern them all

Thank God for the Constitution protecting rights of thought and free speech of all otherwise we'd have a dictatorship.

GF is free to post all the anti-Liberal party stuff he wants, it's up to others to determine if it's legitimate or not. Some would agree "yes" on some topics and "no" on other topics. But no one is pulling up to his door in a black van at midnight. Otherwise we'd have Russia or some sort of other dictatorship.

I thought this is a good topic but we have what, one or two India trip threads already?

[Gone_Fishin]

She says "good" then tries to sow seeds of discontent. Like the Liberals, unable to help themselves accept a contrary view to their own.

The sooner we rid ourselves of the corrupt Liberals in Ottawa, the sooner Canada will be on the road to recovery, both of its citizens' rights and of its international reputation. The left simply doesn't understand the cost to every Canadian of lost opportunity due to corruption and lack of respect among our global partners. Cloaking very serious matters and ethical breaches with snazzy socks will not help one single Canadian, not even the guy with the socks.

[bob vernon]

Steven Harper never would have done this.

[Queen K]

She says "good" then tries to sow seeds of discontent. Like the Liberals, unable to help themselves accept a contrary view to their own.

The sooner we rid ourselves of the corrupt Liberals in Ottawa, the sooner Canada will be on the road to recovery, both of its citizens' rights and of its international reputation. The left simply doesn't understand the cost to every Canadian of lost opportunity due to corruption and lack of respect among our global partners. Cloaking very serious matters and ethical breaches with snazzy socks will not help one single Canadian, not even the guy with the socks.

What contrary view? I addressed JFlem's view that others should not be able to have a different point of view.

Gone_Fishin, would you go back in the read my reply in the spirit in which it was intended? You will do that won't you? Afterall, it is a contrary view to your own.

[blueliner]

Steven Harper never would have done this.

Well if Steven Harper would have do it , he and the Conservatives would have been roasted by the CBC big time .
But in keeping with the kissing CBC they will never report any thing wrong that Liberals do .

[Omnitheo]

Spoken by someone who doesn’t even read CBC.

[blueliner]

Spoken by someone who doesn’t even read CBC.

Does CBC have a newspaper now too ????
Another waste of tax payers $$$$$$

[Omnitheo]

Here you go

http://www.cbc.ca/news