Ethics commissioner asked to investigate Emerson's lumber links
by Romeo St. Martin

[PoliticsWatch Updated 4:30 p.m. March 13, 2006]

OTTAWA  — The Liberals have asked Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro to investigate whether Trade Minister David Emerson's pension with a lumber company puts him in a conflict of interest to deal with the softwood lumber dispute. 

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper Harper named Emerson trade minister just two weeks after he was elected as a Liberal, Conservatives touted him as the person most suited to settle the softwood lumber dispute. 

However, on November 11, 2004, Emerson signed a public declaration of recusal with the ethics commissioner's office forbidding him from being involved in matters that directly involve Canfor. 

Canfor is Canada's largest forestry company and one of the companies specifically named in the anti-dumping case initiated by the U.S. in the softwood dispute.

Before entering politics in 2004, Emerson was the president and CEO of Canfor. He says in his recusal letter that he has an "unregistered pension plan," as result of his service to Canfor. 

Emerson served as industry minister in the Liberal government, but only became the point man for softwood after the Tories selected him for trade.

In a letter to Shapiro's office on Friday, Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc said Emerson's ties to Canfor represent a "possible conflict of interest or appearance thereof." 

"In his capacity as minister of international trade, he is directly involved in negotiations not only related to the possible agreement with the United States but also the refund of deposits held by the U.S. Treasury and paid by Canadian softwood producers," wrote LeBlanc.

"Canfor Corporation would be one of the largest depositors of money subject to this potential refund."

Canfor is believed to have given $750 million of the total $5 billion that has been collected as duties on Canadian lumber over the past few years. 

"This on-going financial relationship between the minister of international trade and one of Canada's largest lumber producers makes his continued, direct involvement in these discussions open to the public concern," LeBlanc wrote in his letter.

Shapiro surprised the Conservatives two weeks ago when he announced he was launching a preliminary investigation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for his role in getting Emerson to cross over to the Tories. 

The ethics commissioner said he would be examining whether Emerson's job as a cabinet minister could be viewed as an inducement and a violation of ethics rules. 

NDP MP Pat Martin says Emerson's role in the softwood lumber dispute is more serious issue than the floor crossing. 

"This softwood lumber conflict of interest issue was sort of eclipsed by the floor crossing, but in actual fact the softwood lumber case is far more serious than the floor crossing," he said.

"The public I think will twig to this. This is the most egregious conflict of interest issue here. There's no debate about that type of conflict. The jury is still out on whether offering a reward to cross the floor is a conflict."

Martin said Emerson's ties to Canfor represent a "direct conflict of interest" that the ethics commissioner will not have any trouble seeing in that way. 

"How can you separate Canfor from the softwood lumber file when they're one of the main companies that will stand to get hundreds of millions of dollars negotiated back into their coffers and he's a direct beneficiary of Canfor's well-being?"

Shapiro's office did not return a call to comment on Emerson's recusal letter.

Martin said Emerson should be kept away from the lumber dispute, possibly from international trade and may made "minister of library services or something."

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