Surging Liberals dealt blow as campaign co-chair resigns

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

The Liberal Party suffered its biggest blow of the election campaign as its co-chair stepped down for giving advice concerning the next government to a major oil firm, on the same day Leader Justin Trudeau started to call for a majority mandate.

Daniel Gagnier, a political veteran who is also a consultant in the energy sector, spent time on Mr. Trudeau’s campaign bus last week and played a key role in organizing the party in Quebec. Earlier this week, he also sent a three-page note to TransCanada Corp. officials on potential scenarios for the energy sector after the election, according to a leaked e-mail.

The controversy stands to hurt the Liberal Party in Quebec, where TransCanada’s Energy East project has been a lightning rod for opposition to proposed pipelines in the province.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/liberal-campaign-co-chair-advised-transcanada-on-lobbying-next-government/article26803117/

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. And Gagnier was linked with Bruce Carson too

Senior Trudeau advisor linked to Bruce Carson’s alleged illegal lobbying: RCMP document
National News, Uncategorized | March 6, 2014 by APTN National News

One of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s top advisors sat on the board of an energy industry-funded think tank while Bruce Carson allegedly illegally lobbied for the same organization, according to a court document filed by the RCMP.

Daniel Gagnier, the Liberal party’s 2015 campaign co-chair, is currently president of the Energy Policy Institute of Canada (EPIC) which the RCMP alleges benefited from illegal lobbying by Carson, who was once acting chief of staff in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office.

Gagnier was a vice chair of the organization during a portion of time that became the focus of the RCMP’s investigation into Carson’s activities. Emails obtained by the RCMP show that Gagnier even pushed EPIC’s agenda with Jean Charest who was premier of Quebec at the time.

Gagnier helped Carson land a meeting between EPIC and provincial energy ministers, according to the RCMP’s document. The RCMP believes Carson’s work around the meeting constituted illegal lobbying. Gagnier was also in the loop on Carson’s attempts to get EPIC’s agenda on the desk of Harper’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright, the RCMP document shows.

the rest at: http://aptn.ca/news/2014/03/06/senior-trudeau-advisor-linked-bruce-carsons-alleged-illegal-lobbying-rcmp-document/

Yeah, that's some real change the Liberals got going on there.