Latest news with #EthicsCommissioner
National Observer
22-07-2025
- Business
- National Observer
Alberta landowner files conflict-of-interest complaint against Danielle Smith appointee
An Alberta landowner dealing with an orphan gas well on his property wants an investigation into an oil industry insider and advisor to Premier Danielle Smith. David Yager led the creation of a controversial strategy that would shift the burdens of oil and gas well clean up from industry to the public, while also working as an industry consultant. Yager is a long-time oil and gas industry insider who has worked as an executive for a handful of oilfield companies, including Tesco Corporation, which he founded. Yager's business website offers consulting services for the oil and gas service industry. At the same time, he is sitting on the board of the Alberta Energy Regulator and acting as a 'special advisor' to Premier Danielle Smith. The complaint, filed to the Ethics Commissioner by Ecojustice on July 22, alleges Yager's role in the creation of the controversial Mature Asset Strategy violated the Conflict of Interest Act. 'He can't have all those roles at the same time,' Susanne Calabrese, staff lawyer at Ecojustice, said in a phone interview with Canada's National Observer. 'In our opinion, it's impossible to represent the interests of a part of the government, an independent regulator, private companies and then the public, all at the same time.' Reached by phone, Yager declined to comment on the complaint. Canada's National Observer received an unattributed, emailed statement from the Office of the Minister of Energy and Minerals defending Yager's appointment. David Yager, a long-time oil and gas industry insider and advisor to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, is the focus of a new complaint that alleges his role in the creation of the controversial Mature Asset Strategy is a conflict of interest. 'Mr. Yager has been contracted to work with the Government of Alberta based on the unique skills and experience he brings from a long career in the oil and gas sector, as well as the valuable perspective he brings to significant issues relating to the energy sector,' the statement read. It referenced his over 50 years of experience in upstream oil and gas and time as founder, executive officer and director of three publicly traded oilfield service companies 'specializing in wellbore construction, completion, remediation, abandonment, production optimization, regulatory compliance and the physical protection of workers, assets and the community.' The statement did not directly address the complaint, which at the time of correspondence had not yet been filed to the Ethics Commissioner. Ecojustice said the complaint is expected to be filed on Tuesday. 'We didn't know if it's leaking' Dwight Popowich has been fighting for nearly eight years to clean up an inactive, orphaned gas well on his property, about a quarter mile from his house. A few months ago he managed to get the well designated as an orphan well through the industry-funded Orphan Well Association, which is supposed to trigger a clean up process, but was told it will be 10 to 12 years before it is reclaimed. He filed the complaint almost four months after the strategy to deal with aging oil and gas infrastructure was released and widely criticized by landowner associations, environmental groups and the Rural Municipalities of Alberta. 'How is this protecting my rights? It's like my rights are totally ignored as a landowner, as a taxpayer,' he told Canada's National Observer in a phone interview. 'When you sit on the Alberta Energy Regulator board you're supposed to be independent from government. Well, how is he independent from government and he's a special advisor to the premier at the same time?' Popowich said. Popowich said the well has thrown a wrench in his plans to sell the property because no one wants to buy a liability. And if the gas well on his property is leaking he would never be the wiser because it would be colourless and odorless and require someone with special equipment to detect. 'These are industrial sites. They have dangerous vapors coming off of them. Some of them are explosive, some of them are poisonous, some of them are both,' Popowich said. 'We didn't know if it's leaking, if it's safe.' Billions in liabilities Alberta is littered with defunct oil and gas wells. The Mature Asset Strategy estimated there are 274,215 well sites that have not been reclaimed. Of those, about 101,000 are classified as 'marginal,' meaning they currently produce very little oil or gas and are on the way out. Some are 'abandoned' and sealed off with concrete, while others are left unplugged and called 'orphaned' wells because no company is legally responsible for cleaning them up. Though estimates vary, the cost to deal with all these wells is astronomical. The Alberta Energy Regulator has clean-up billed at about $36 billion while a 2023 research paper from the School of Public Policy estimates current liabilities are at least $60 billion. To deal with the problem, Alberta commissioned the creation of the Mature Asset Strategy, led by Yager, which was developed through months of closed-door discussions with oil and gas companies and other stakeholders. Of the 98 participants consulted on the strategy, at least 50 participants were from the oil and gas industry, with another 10 participants referred to as technical and engineering. No participants from environmental groups or landowner or citizen groups are listed. Three were listed as Indigenous 'Ministries/Organizations/Representatives' The Rural Municipalities of Alberta, which participated in the process, criticized the report as focusing too much on recommendations that benefit industry, with little regard for impacts on municipalities, landowners, the environment and the broader public interest. The recommendations are vague but there is a common 'narrative of lessening environmental standards,' Calabrese said. For example, one of the recommendations in the strategy suggested existing defunct oil and gas well sites could be outfitted with solar panels instead of undergoing full reclamation, saying this arrangement would deliver 'both environmental and economic benefits.' 'When we look at the whole process, we realize that the whole thing probably had a predetermined outcome before it was even started,' Popowich said. 'A flawed process, potentially tainted by conflicts of interest, leads to a flawed product,' Calabrese said. 'We're really concerned that the public did not get what they paid for with a Mature Asset Strategy because of all these conflicts of interest, and that's why we want the ethics commissioner to look into this matter.' 'This is their circus; this is their monkeys' All of this runs counter to the polluter pays principle, which states companies should bear the cost of cleaning up their messes, not taxpayers, Popowich said. Oil and gas companies are notorious for not paying taxes to municipalities and this is another key issue critics say was not adequately addressed in the strategy. Landowners like Popowich are supposed to be paid a land lease by the company operating on their land, but if a company goes bankrupt the payments stop and landowners have to apply to the government to receive the money. The result? Alberta taxpayers pay millions of dollars in these failed land lease payments, Calabrese said. 'This was created by the industry. This is their circus; this is their monkeys. We should have nothing to do with this,' Popowich said. Yager was hired to do this work, and previous work, through a series of four sole source contracts with the government of Alberta and the complaint asks the ethics commissioner to investigate this for possible violations of Alberta's procurement and sole course contract policy. Yager's website says he encouraged Smith to run for leadership of the Wildrose Party in 2009 and boasts he was the top fundraiser for her leadership bid that year. 'It's very interesting that after she was sworn into office only a few months later he's then had four back-to-back sole source contracts awarded,' Calabrese said. Yager's first contract in 2023 was $60,000 for 'Advisory Council on Alberta's Energy Future'; the report was never made public. Later that year he was awarded a $70,000 contract to complete a review of the AER. In 2024, he received $136,000 for 'Professional Services' and this year saw him awarded $156,000 for 'Advisory Services' thought to be related to the Mature Asset Strategy, according to the Ecojustice complaint. If the ethics commissioner decides to investigate Popowich's complaint it will eventually submit a report with its findings to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly with recommendations on what should happen next, Calabrese explained.
National Post
19-07-2025
- Business
- National Post
'What is a conflict of interest, anyway?' The imagined thoughts of Mark Carney's ethics disclosures
The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has released the full details of Mark Carney's asset disclosures, and they reveal a prime minister who appears to be more constrained by conflicts of interest than any other. Article content Carney's years of helping to oversee the trillion-dollar portfolio of Brookfield Asset Management gave him an equity stake over dozens of companies whose fortunes are likely to be directly impacted by the policies of his government. Article content Article content And so, the Ethics Commissioner has accepted a complex arrangement wherein any time one of 103 Carney-linked companies comes up in cabinet discussions, he's supposed to leave the room while declaring that he's doing so. Article content Article content But no, it turns out that all these assets were seen as a liability. A bad thing. The commissioner was prejudicially assuming that just because Mr. Carney happened to own substantial shares of a few dozen companies, this was itself evidence that he would use his public influence for personal gain. For shame, I say. Look within your heart, Canada. An intelligent, beautiful man volunteers to be your prime minister and your first impulse is to assume that he must only be doing it for selfish reasons? Article content Article content Article content What is a conflict of interest, anyway? Mr. Carney is a bipedal mammal who requires oxygen for cellular respiration. Does that put him at a 'conflict of interest' if he takes pro-oxygen positions in public life? Article content I have known Mr. Carney to ride inside automobiles manufactured by Mercedes, Lexus and, if he's slumming it, Volkswagen. Does that put him at a 'conflict of interest' when it comes to foreign relations with the respective governments of Germany and Japan? Article content By your logic, surely his appreciation of the elegant and responsive interior of the 2025 E-class would instantly transform him into a Manchurian candidate loyal only to the whims of Mercedes-Benz AG and the Chancellor of Germany, in that order. Article content Perhaps your next ethical disclosure should uncompromisingly litigate everything that has ever given Mr. Carney joy or satisfaction of any kind. Did he once enjoy a matinee screening of Ladri di biciclette? Watch out; because that surely means he'll sell us out to Italy at the first opportunity.
Vancouver Sun
11-07-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Carney to recuse himself from dealings with over 100 companies in sprawling government conflict screen
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will have to recuse himself from any discussions directly involving Brookfield Asset Management, payment processing giant Stripe and dozens of companies owned or controlled by them as part of an extensive conflict-of-interest screen. In a disclosure posted Friday afternoon on the Ethics Commissioner's website, Carney said he had agreed with the watchdog's office to set up a conflict-of-interest screen between himself and Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Corporation, Stripe Inc. and any of 100 other companies owned or controlled by them at the time he set up a blind trust to oversee his assets. Before jumping into politics, Carney was chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, which has US$1 trillion in assets under management, and also helped lead efforts to raise capital for two major Brookfield clean energy funds. He was also on Stripe's board of directors. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'This screen will prevent me from giving preferential treatment to any of the Companies while I exercise my official powers, duties, and functions as a reporting public office holder,' reads Carney's declaration. The screen means that Carney cannot be involved in 'any official matters or decision-making processes' that would further either his or the interests of the 103 companies , many of which operate in the renewable energy and real estate sectors. 'That's the largest scope I've ever heard of,' commented Ian Stedman, a government ethics specialist who previously worked for Ontario's Integrity Commissioner. 'I think that they're going to have to get creative to make administration of this screen efficient,' added Stedman, now an associate professor at York University. The screen will be administered by Carney's chief of staff, Marc-André Blanchard, and clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Sabia, respectively. If he is made aware that a matter being discussed with him involves his ethics screen, he must remove himself from the room and make a public declaration of recusal. But the prime minister isn't barred from all discussions that may impact those companies. Carney's screen contains a caveat where he can participate in discussions or decisions on matters that broadly affect any of the 103 companies if they are part of a larger group, 'unless those interests are disproportionate to the other members of the class.' It was not immediately clear what represents a 'disproportionate' interest. Stedman said that will be a key question for both administrators of Carney's screen. The ethics screen risks posing significant implementation challenges, if only because of the sheer scope of the prime minister's responsibilities combined with the large number of companies to be screened. Adding to the complexity is that Carney has repeatedly promised to transform Canada into a conventional and clean energy 'superpower.' Stedman said this is the first time the ethics commissioner will have to police such a broad ethics screen for the highest-ranking elected official whose hand touches nearly all facets of government. That means there will likely need to be a fair amount of self-policing from Carney regarding any potential conflicts in files brought to him. 'This is going to be a new challenge for this institution to monitor in a way that ensures public confidence. Someone in this position with this robust of a portfolio,' Stedman said. 'If you have the chief of staff and the clerk watching for 103 different companies… at all times, they're not going to get anything else done. So there's going to have to be a little bit of self policing on his part,' he added. Carney's potential conflicts were a key critique from the opponents after he was elected Liberal leader in early March. At first, he was dismissive of the notion he may have some conflicts of interest relating to his previous work at Brookfield before eventually admitting that he'd likely require an ethics screen. One of the screens the prime minister will be subject to is with Westinghouse, one of the world's largest nuclear companies, which Brookfield Asset Management acquired a majority ownership stake in while Carney was co-head of the investment fund. Carney notably name-dropped Westinghouse while praising nuclear energy during a leaders' debate during the election, which raised some eyebrows. Other noteworthy conflict of interest screens relate to some of Brookfield's investments in India's clean energy and renewables sector — Leap Green, Avaada Group and CleanMax — through the Brookfield Global Transition Fund which was co-managed by Carney. With additional reporting from Catherine Lévesque. National Post cnardi@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
Edmonton Journal
11-07-2025
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
Carney to recuse himself from dealings with over 100 companies in sprawling government conflict screen
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will have to recuse himself from any discussions directly involving Brookfield Asset Management, payment processing giant Stripe and dozens of companies owned or controlled by them as part of an extensive conflict-of-interest screen. Article content In a disclosure posted Friday afternoon on the Ethics Commissioner's website, Carney said he had agreed with the watchdog's office to set up a conflict-of-interest screen between himself and Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Corporation, Stripe Inc. and any of 100 other companies owned or controlled by them at the time he set up a blind trust to oversee his assets. Article content Article content Before jumping into politics, Carney was chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, which has US$1 trillion in assets under management, and also helped lead efforts to raise capital for two major Brookfield clean energy funds. He was also on Stripe's board of directors. Article content Article content 'This screen will prevent me from giving preferential treatment to any of the Companies while I exercise my official powers, duties, and functions as a reporting public office holder,' reads Carney's declaration. Article content The screen means that Carney cannot be involved in 'any official matters or decision-making processes' that would further either his or the interests of the 103 companies, many of which operate in the renewable energy and real estate sectors. Article content 'That's the largest scope I've ever heard of,' commented Ian Stedman, a government ethics specialist who previously worked for Ontario's Integrity Commissioner. Article content Article content 'I think that they're going to have to get creative to make administration of this screen efficient,' added Stedman, now an associate professor at York University. Article content Article content The screen will be administered by Carney's chief of staff, Marc-André Blanchard, and clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Sabia, respectively. Article content If he is made aware that a matter being discussed with him involves his ethics screen, he must remove himself from the room and make a public declaration of recusal. Article content But the prime minister isn't barred from all discussions that may impact those companies. Carney's screen contains a caveat where he can participate in discussions or decisions on matters that broadly affect any of the 103 companies if they are part of a larger group, 'unless those interests are disproportionate to the other members of the class.' Article content It was not immediately clear what represents a 'disproportionate' interest. Stedman said that will be a key question for both administrators of Carney's screen.
CNN
29-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Analysis: Adieu, Mr. Trudeau and farewell to your ‘sunny ways'
In the depths of a bitterly cold and snowy January this year, Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister for nearly a decade, reluctantly decided to resign — a tacit admission that the sun was setting on his 'sunny ways,' the mantra that propelled him to office in 2015. Those 'sunny ways' were tested early and often, many times by Trudeau himself and for that reason his legacy is likely to be a complicated one. He could not have predicted that in his last weeks as prime minister, it would be US President Donald Trump who would help him burnish that legacy. From defiantly posting, 'You can't take our country — and you can't take our game,' after Canada defeated the US in the National Hockey League 4 Nations Face-Off, to pointedly telling the US president that his threatened tariffs would be 'a very dumb thing to do,' Trudeau stood up for Canada in a way that even his fiercest critics could appreciate. Last week, he demonstrated Canadian antipathy toward Trump and his policies. With a diverse crowd behind him and babies babbling in their parents' arms, Trudeau held true to his progressive ideals announcing billions of dollars for government-subsidized childcare in one of his final policy announcements 'On a personal level, I'm made sure that every single day in this office, I've put Canadians first, that I have people's backs and that's why I'm here to tell you all that we got you even in the very last days of this government we will not let Canadians down today and long into the future,' he said, showing uncommon emotion, tears brimming in his eyes, a lump clearly in his throat. It was a last ray of light for Trudeau's sunny ways, a creed that now seems too trite to prevail after the scandals he faced, after Covid, after Trump's second election. By chance, it was indeed sunny the day Trudeau took office in November 2015, and it's on that day that he set the expectations for himself, and his government. When Trudeau, who appointed as many women ministers as men, was asked early in his first term why it was important that his cabinet be 'gender balanced,' he responded bluntly: 'Because it's 2015,' to laughter and then applause. In the frame right behind him, smiling in the sunshine, was Jody Wilson-Raybould, Canada's new justice minister and attorney general. But by 2019, she would be demoted and later resigned after accusing Trudeau's staff of pressuring her to cut a sweetheart legal deal for one of Canada's largest companies amid a bribery scandal. A 2019 Ethics Commissioner report found evidence that Trudeau's behavior breached Canada's Conflict of Interest Act. Another cabinet colleague, Jane Philpott resigned with her in protest. Raybould would later write in her memoir, 'This man was not the leader I had thought him to be.' That incident proved an inflection point for Trudeau's tenure. He had portrayed himself as an earnest champion of progressive and just causes, and Canadians expected his actions to live up to his soaring rhetoric. More than once, they did not. Beyond the sting of the Raybould scandal, there were more breaches of the high standards he himself had set. He violated conflict of interest rules by failing to declare free vacations from wealthy friends. Photographs emerged showing Trudeau in blackface during his days as a student and a teacher – and he admitted he didn't know how many times he had done it. And he faced criticism for awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to the WE Charity, linked to members of his family, though another Ethics Commissioner inquiry in 2021 found no evidence that that Trudeau had directly influenced any of the contracts. Then, late last year, Trudeau's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned, publishing a scathing letter that accused him of wasting taxpayer money on 'political gimmicks.' With opinion polls showing his Liberal Party would likely face defeat in an upcoming election, Trudeau resigned and turned to the urgency of the moment, fighting not just a looming tariff war from the Trump administration but a possible threat to Canada's existence itself, as the US president insisted it should become the 51st state. 'This is a nation-defining moment. Democracy is not a given. Freedom, it's not a given. Canada is not a given. None of those happen by accident. None of them will continue without effort,' said Trudeau during his farewell speech Sunday. For Trudeau's period of nearly a decade in office, two accomplishments seem indelible: his efforts on indigenous reconciliation and his commitment to end child poverty. With his steady pace of indigenous reconciliation efforts, Trudeau settled land claims, strengthened indigenous autonomy, worked to improve indigenous living conditions, and enshrined a day of National Reconciliation and Truth to be observed every year. He is also credited with lifting hundreds of thousands of Canadian children out of poverty with a child tax benefit paid directly to families, among other family focused initiatives like subsidized childcare. In one of his last social media posts as prime minister, it was telling that Trudeau did not return to his mantra of 'sunny ways.' 'I leave as leader of the Liberal Party with the same belief in hope and hard work as when I started. Hope for this party and for this country, because of the millions of Canadians who prove every day that better is always possible.'
