National

Bains appointment to Rogers prompts House committee to invite lobbying commissioner

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Apr, 2023 11:15 AM

OTTAWA — 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 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.

He was among several new appointments made to Rogers executive leadership team last week after Bains cleared his new job with both the lobbying and ethics commissioners in Ottawa.

The industry minister is responsible for overseeing Canada's industrial strategy, including regulating national sectors such as telecommunications.

The motion passed in committee on Tuesday as critics warn about the optics of the appointment.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

West Fraser Timber reports loss in fourth quarter

The company, which reports in U.S. dollars, says in the fourth quarter it faced dampened new home construction in the U.S. due to high interest rates, which weighed on its lumber business in particular.

West Fraser Timber reports loss in fourth quarter

MPs want transparency in Canada's sanctions regime

The committee launched a study of the Russian military buildup at the border with Ukraine shortly before Moscow chose to invade the country a year ago. Since then, Ottawa has sanctioned hundreds of people linked to Russia's war effort, as well as officials accused of human-rights breaches from Haiti to Sri Lanka.

MPs want transparency in Canada's sanctions regime

Avalanche kills two in B.C.'s backcountry

Search and rescue crews were notified when the victims were reported overdue and their bodies were later recovered from the scene of the avalanche. Avalanche Canada says the area of the slide was highly wind-affected, leaving some parts of the slope thin and rocky, while other sections had up to 130 centimetres of snow.

Avalanche kills two in B.C.'s backcountry

Pandemic support lowered B.C.'s child poverty rate

It's the largest one-year drop in the rate since 2000, but one in eight children were still living in poverty, and the report says rates were "dramatically higher" among children living on First Nation reserves and those who recently immigrated.

Pandemic support lowered B.C.'s child poverty rate

MPs want more earthquake donations matched

The federal government has offered to match up to $10 million in donations to the Canadian Red Cross for their partners on the ground to help people who are suddenly homeless. Conservative, Bloc Québécois and New Democrat MPs want to see that expanded to include other groups, an idea that is supported by at least one Liberal MP, Sameer Zuberi.

MPs want more earthquake donations matched

Canadian's body found in Turkey earthquake rubble

Saad Zora says his twin sister Samar was found earlier today by searchers as an excavator dug through pieces of a five-storey building in the city of Antakya. He said, "Samar was found," and added, "she didn't make it."