Report of the Registrar’s Finding in the Matter of Mr.Rick Smit

On May 8, 2000 an article appeared in the National Post alleging that Mr. Rick Smit, former president of the Kenora-Rainy River riding association, had been lobbying certain federal ministers for the past two months without being registered in accordance with the Lobbyists Registration Act.

According to the article, Mr. Smit, president of Rick Smit Logistics Inc., had been lobbying the federal cabinet ministers on behalf of Goldcorp., a Canadian gold mining company which wanted government grants to pay for a $3.5 million road. Contrary to the claims made by Mr. Smit in a first interview with the National Post to the effect that he had properly registered his lobbying activities with the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, following a review of the public registry, the National Post found no filings for Mr. Smit nor for his company.

Subsection 5.(1) of the Lobbyists Registration Act states that:

Every individual who, for payment, on behalf of any person or organization (in this section referred to as the “client”), undertakes to

(a) communicate with a public office holder in an attempt to influence

(v) the awarding of any grant, contribution or other financial benefit by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada, ...

shall, not later than ten days after entering into that undertaking, file with the registrar, in the prescribed form and manner, a return setting out the information referred to in subsection (2).

The Registrar conducted an enquiry into these allegations and communicated with company officials at Goldcorp. and the Offices of the two federal ministers in question.

Conversation with Mr. Rick Smit

1. Agreement and Mandate

   In her dealings with Mr. Smit, the Registrar found him to be open and cooperative. He explained that even before he began his negotiations with his client, Goldcorp. on February 4, 2000 he resigned as president of the riding association as he wanted to avoid any potential conflicts and provided proof of his resignation.

   Mr. Smit stated that on February 9, 2000 he entered into an agreement with Goldcorp. according to which it was agreed that he would provide his services to promote a road link between Red Lake and Werner Lake in Ontario. Mr. Smit would devote significant time, energy and consensus building skills, in organizing a broad-based coalition or working group, to be approved by the Municipality of Red Lake, to promote the road project.

   Mr. Smit would therefore act as a resource person to the Werner Lake Road Committee, which was created by the Red Lake Council, which in turn would lobby the responsible governments.

   In a conversation with company officials at Goldcorp. it was confirmed that an agreement was reached on February 9th with Mr. Smit, that Mr. Smit did indicate to them that he had registered with the Department of Industry as a lobbyist and that Mr. Smit's services were to include consulting and management services as well as the promotion of the road construction.

2. Contacts

   In relation to Mr. Smit's dealings with federal ministers as suggested by the National Post article, Mr. Smit stated that the only communications he had were either in the context of conferences where there were no discussions on road infrastructure or were when he was acting as a journalist and editor for the Red Lake District News where he interviewed a federal minister on two separate occasions; once where the minister spoke in favour of a road infrastructure and another time in relation to an all-weather road network to be built north of Red Lake.

   The Registrar communicated with the Offices of the federal ministers involved which confirmed that no lobbying activity took place.

Essential Components for Registration Requirements Under the Act

Three components must be present in order to trigger the registration requirements of the legislation namely: (1) an undertaking to communicate on behalf of a person (2) for payment (3) a public office holder in an attempt to influence the awarding of any grant, contribution or other financial benefit by or on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Mr. Smit obviously believed he would be engaged in lobbying for this project. He has stated that he did create a lobbyist account on February 10, 2000 erroneously believing at the time that he had thereby registered under the Act. We have verified Mr. Smit's claim. According to the documentary information provided it clearly shows that he did take these steps and created an account with Industry Canada, through Strategis, on February 10th 2000. Creating an account, however, is only the first step in registering for the first time as a lobbyist. Mr. Smit never took the second step at the time. Subsequently, he only completed his registration on May 10th after the matter had become public and he had learned that his registration did not appear on the public registry.

From her interviews with Mr. Smit as well as with company officials at Goldcorp., it would seem that Mr. Smit's primary task was not lobbying. Rather, he was retained to provide consulting, management and promotion services to organize a coalition or working group which would do the lobbying with the respective governments. In any event, the Registrar verified with the two federal cabinet ministers that they had communicated with Mr. Smit, but that the nature of the discussions did not constitute an activity for which a registration under the Act, was necessary.

Conclusion

The facts do not demonstrate that lobbying activities took place.