Quote:
Originally Posted by kwoldtimer
Gagnier apparently had all kinds of political experience, but the point would be that as a TransCanada employee, he could put elected Liberal politicians in a possible conflict of interest situation if he subsequently lobbied on behalf of TransCanada or the energy sector. Why? Because the Liberals could be seen as beholden to Gagnier for his help on the election campaign. A stretch, I know, but it shows how far the Liberals (and, I hope, the other parties) go nowadays to ensure that they are seen to be clean.
So, for your software developer, the problem would arise if he subsequently lobbied the party on behalf of a software company. Or at least that's my understanding.
|
I don't think that's quite right. It seems Gagnier is in the hot seat simply because he was working with the Liberal government and gave TransCanada instructions on how best to deal with a transition in government, including potential senior members/cabinet ministers.
Again, I don't see the problem. There isn't any actionable information involved and no one knows what the next government is going to look like. If it could somehow be construed as "inside information", such as if the Liberals had been elected, Gagnier had been involved in appointing energy ministers (which it doesn't sound like he was), and Gagnier privately announced the news to TransCanada days earlier than the public had legitimate access to (as in, an executive from Enbridge couldn't simply ask the administration these details) - I could see a minor problem.
As it stands, you couldn't make a bigger mountain out of a smaller molehill.
As an aside, it seems like from the details Gagnier only sent the email to very high ranking TransCanada executives. It seems painfully clear that one of those individuals was a rabid Conservative supporter and intentionally leaked the email. If anything, this reflects very badly on TransCanada management, and says much more about an old boys club of Conservative BS in Calgary than it says about an old boys club of Liberal BS in Ottawa. I wonder why media isn't taking that angle.