Then-Liberal MP Navdeep Bains delivers a farewell speech in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 15, 2021.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
The lobbying commissioner is being asked to appear at a House of Commons committee to explain why the appointment of a former industry minister to an executive role at Rogers RCI-B-T doesn’t break the lobbying code.
The House of Commons ethics committee agreed Tuesday to invite the commissioner to a future meeting following a motion moved by Conservative Michael Barrett.
Former Liberal MP Navdeep Bains was the minister of industry for more than five years until he left government for the private sector in 2021.
The industry minister is responsible for overseeing Canada’s industrial strategy, including regulating national sectors such as telecommunications.
Bains was among several people newly appointed to the Rogers executive leadership team last week, after he cleared his new job with the lobbying and ethics commissioners in Ottawa.
According to the text of the motion, the committee is also planning to send a letter to the Office of the Conflicts of Interest and Ethics Commissioner “inquiring into any records of interactions relating to former minister Navdeep Bains in regards to the Rogers file” to decide who to call on to testify from the office.
The motion to hear from the lobbying watchdog passed in committee on Tuesday as critics warn about the optics of the appointment.
A Rogers spokesperson said part of Bains’s responsibility will be to lead the company’s public policy and environmental, social and governance efforts.
His role will involve overseeing government affairs, but the spokesperson said he will not communicate with the government on behalf of Rogers in order to remain complaint with the Lobbying Act.
According to the act, an elected official is not permitted to engage in lobbying activities for five years after leaving public office.