Commissariat aux conflits d'int6r€ts et d I'ethiqueOffice of the Conflict of lnterest and Ethics Commissioner

66, rue Slater Street22'6tage I 22nd FloorOTTAWA, ONTARIO

CANADAK1A 0A6

April 13,2010

Mr. Dean Del Maestro, M.P.Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and

Member of Parliament for PeterboroughRoom 602, Justice BuildingHouse of CommonsOttawa, Ontario KlA 0,4.6

AND

Mr. Justin Trudeau, M.P.Member of Parliament for PapineauRoom 135, Confederation BuildingHouse of CommonsOttawa, Ontario KlA 0,4.6

Dear Mr. Del Maestro and Mr. Trudeau:

I have completed my preliminary review in relation to the request dated March 15,2010from Mr. Del Maestro which was received in my Office on March 17. He asked that I conduct

an inquiry into a possible contravention of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the

House of Commons (Code) by Mr. Trudeau. Based on the information in the request and the

response from Mr. Trudeau, I do not believe that an inquiry is warranted, The reasons for rnydecision are set out below.

Mr. Del Maestro's request

Mr. Del Maestro's concerns centred on Mr. Trudeau's business as a paid speaker and the

fact that promotional material for these speaking engagements describes Mr. Trudeau as a

Member of Parliament.

Mr. Del Maestro recognized that section 7 of the Code allows Mr. Trudeau to continue to

calry on a business or employment, but alleged that Mr. Trudeau breached sections 8 and 9 ofthe Code by allowing himself to be advertised as a Member of Parliament in connection withprofessional speaking engagements for which he is paid a fee. Section 8 prohibits Members

from acting to further their private interests when perfonning parliarrentary duties and functions....t2

2-

Section 9 prohibits Members from using their position to influence a decision of another person

so as to fuither the Mernber's private interests. Mr. Del Maestro alleges that Mr. Trudeau has

used his position as a Member to further his private interests as a paid speaker.

Mr. Del Maestro included with his request promotional material for the

November 2,2009 Champion of Public Education Moncton Tribute Lunch where Mr. Trudeauwas the keynote speaker. This event was organized as a fundraiser by the Leaming Partnership,a non-profit organrzation advocating a strong public education system in Canada, to honourMs. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, a former Senator and Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswickfor her dedication to literacy, education and childhood development.

The materials included a notice on the Learning Partnership website advertising thisevent and a promotional brochure, both of which refer to Mr. Trudeau as "Justin Trudeau, MP".A press release for the event published on November 2,2009 in the Moncton Times & Transcriptrefers to Mr. Trudeau as "one of Canada's most high profile Members of Parliarnent". I note thathe was also described in the press release as a long-time champion of education causes and

literacy. In addition, Mr. Del Maestro enclosed a press report of November 7,2009 from the

Moncton Times & Transcript about this event, which stated that Mr. Trudeau was paid $10,000as a personal appearance fee which Mr. Trudeau had charged to "local Liberals."

Mr. Del Maestro also enclosed the biography of Mr. Trudeau which is featured on thewebsite of the Speakers' Spotlight, an agency that books speaking engagements for Mr. Trudeauand many other speakers. He alleged that Mr. Trudeau's position as a Member of Parliament is

featured prominently. I note that the title is "Justin P. J. Trudeau, Education, Environment and

Youth Advocate" and the only reference to the fact that Mr. Trudeau is a Member of Parliamentis found towards the end after a description of his education, teaching and other activities, whereit is stated that he is proud to be the new Member of Parliament for Papineau.

In addition Mr. Del Maestro referred to three other speaking engagements ofMr. Trudeau that took place rn2009, where he was also advertised as a Member of Parliament.Mr. Del Maestro does not know if these were paid events.

Process

On March 18, 2010, after determining that the request met the requirements of subsection

27(2) of the Code, I forwarded Mr. Del Maestro's request to Mr. Trudeau in accordance withsubsection 27(3.1) of the Code. In my covering letter I explained to Mr. Trudeau that the Code

gives him 30 days to respond to Mr. Del Maestro's allegations. I informed hirn that I was thenrequired to conduct a preliminary review of the request and response to determine if an inquirywas walranted and to notify both Mr. Del Maestro and Mr. Trudeau of my decision within 15

working days after receiving the response. I also advised Mr. Del Maestro of this.

l3

3-

Mr. Trudeau's response

I received Mr. Trudeau's response on March 25,2010. Mr. Trudeau stated in his letterthat in his view he has not breached the Code because he undertakes these speaking engagernentsin his private capacity and speaks about issues such as education, the environnent and youth.He does not comment on partisan or political matters, and any requests for speeches of a politicalnature are referred to his Member of Parliament offices.

With respect to his speaking engagelnent at the Moncton tribute lunch, Mr. Trudeau saidthat this was for the Learning Parlnership, a non-profit charitable organization whose mandate isto strengthen public education in Canada. He was paid by the Learning Partnership and not bythe Liberal Party. The honouree was Ms. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, a former LiberalSenator, and there were many Liberals in attendance. ln addition, the Master of Ceremonies wasMs. Roxanne Reeves, an offrcial with the Learning Parlnership, who is also the spouse ofMr. Shawn Graham, Liberal Premier of New Brunswick. He thought that this may have giventhe impression that the event was organizedby the Liberal Party. Mr. Trudeau stated that he wasseated between Conservative Party of Canada Senator John Wallace and New BrunswickProgressive Conservative Party leader David Alward. He said that he gave a 20-minute non-partisan speech on the challenges of building a society that values young people and empowersthem through education, a topic on which he has spoken many tirnes before his election toParliament.

With respect to his speaking engagements generally, Mr. Trudeau stated that he isrepresented by Speakers' Spotlight, an agency that handles bookings for many speakers. Heenclosed his current biography from the Speakers' Spotlight as well as the biography from 2006,before he was elected, to show that very few changes have been made. His view is that it wouldbe odd not to mention in his current biography that he is now a Member of Parliarnent. He hasincluded a letter from Mr. Martin Perelmuter, President of Speakers' Spotlight, confirming thattheir bookings for Mr. Trudeau are only in his capacity as an individual who speaks about theenvironment, youth and education. Mr. Perelmuter added that this is made clear to clients, and ifthe event seems remotely political, the clients are directed to his Member of Parliament offices tobook him as a Member of Parliament.

Mr. Trudeau said that no staff or resources of his Member of Parliament offices are usedfor his private speaking activities, other than to ensure that he has no scheduling conflicts. Anyrequests for private speaking engagements that may come in to his Member of Parliament officesare directed to Speakers' Spotlight. He included a letter from Mr. Louis-Alexandre Lanthier, hisExecutive Assistant, confirming this. Mr. Trudeau added that any travel costs associated withhis public speaking are entirely assumed by the client and not by his travel points or Member'sOperating Budget. None of his communications as a Member of Parliament promote his paidspeaking work, and he never refers to this in his letters or speeches as a Member of Parliament.He said that he has never pursued his private interests as a public speaker when perfonning hisparliamentary functions and duties.

l4

4-

With respect to the three other speaking engagements referred to by Mr. Del Maestro,Mr. Trudeau stated that none of these were paid public speeches. One took place in the summerof 2008, before his election on October 14,2008, and the other two were undertaken as part ofhis duties and functions as a Member of Parliament and elected member of the Liberal Party.

Assessment

I have reviewed both Mr. Del Maestro's request and Mr. Trudeau's response in relationto sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Code. These provisions read as follows:

7. Nothing in tltis Code prevents Members who are not ministers of the Crown orparliamentary secretaries from any of thefollowing, as long as they are able to fuffilltheir obligations under this Code:

(a) engaging in employment or in the practice of a profession;(b) carrying on a business;(c) being a director or fficer in a corporation, association, trade union or non-profitorganization,' and(d) being a partner in a partnership.

8. When performing parliamentary duties andfunctions, a Member shall not act in anyway to further his or her private interests or those of a member of the Member's family,or to improperlyfurther another person's or entity's private interests.

9. A Member shall not use his or her position as a Member to influence a decision ofanother person so as to further the Member's private interests or those of a member ofthe Member'sfamily, or to improperlyfurther another person's or entity's privateinterests

Section 7 allows Members who are not ministers or parliamentary secretaries to engage

in employment or caffy on a business as long as they are able to fuIfilI their obligations under theCode. These obligations include sections 8 and 9 which prohibit them from using their positionsas Members to further their private interests.

It is clear that Mr. Trudeau's paid speaking engagements would constitute a privateinterest within the meaning of the Code. Although the term "private interest" is not defined inthe Code, subsection 3(2) sets out a list of circumstances in which a Member is considered tofurther a private interest and this list includes an increase in income from employment, a

business or a contract.

Section 8 is general in scope, and prohibits Members from acting to further their ownprivate interests when performing parliamentary duties and functions. Mr. Trudeau stated that hewas not engaged in parliamentary duties and functions when he spoke at the Moncton tributelunch and his other private speaking engagements, but rather acting in his capacity as a privatecrtizen. He added that these speeches did not include political or partisan comrnents. He alsodescribed the arrangements he has put in place to ensure that his speaking engagernents for his

...1s

-5

private business are administered separately frorn those undertaken as a Member of Parliamentand stated that he does not promote the private business while engaged in parliamentary dutiesand functions.

There is no information before rne to suggest that Mr. Trudeau was perfonningparliamentary duties and functions when he spoke at these events or that he acted in any way tofuither his private interests as a paid speaker when performing those duties and functions. Iaccept his explanation. Therefore I conclude, as a result of my preliminary review, that section 8

was not engaged.

Section 9 of the Code provides that Members may not use their positions as Membersto influence the decision of another person so as to fuither the Member's private interests.Mr. Del Maestro's view is that Mr. Trudeau has contravened section 9 by allowing others todescribe him as a Member of Parliarnent in promotional materials for his speaking engagements.I do not agree that allowing himself to be referred to as a Member of Parliament, on its own,constitutes using his position as a Member to influence the decisions of others to engage him as a

paid speaker. It is simply making reference to his current occupation as a Member of Parliament.There is no other information before me to suggest that Mr. Trudeau used his position as a

Mernber to further his private interests as a paid speaker. Therefore I conclude, as a result of mypreliminary review, that section t has not been contravened.

On the basis of the information provided, I have no reason to believe that Mr. Trudeauhas contravened sections 8 or 9 of the Code. He is carrying on a business as a paid speaker whilerespecting his other obligations under the Code, and this is pennitted under section 7 of theCode. For these reasons, I have decided that an inquiry is not warranted.

Sincerely,

' MaryConflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner