Former N.L. energy minister registered as lobbyist for wind developer 3 months after leaving office
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Former Newfoundland and Labrador industry, energy and technology minister Andrew Parsons registered as a federal lobbyist just three months after leaving provincial politics.
His client? Exploits Valley Renewable Energy Corporation (EVREC), the proponent of a major wind to green hydrogen and ammonia project in central Newfoundland.
As minister responsible for the province’s energy sector from 2020 to 2025, Parsons oversaw the selection of EVREC as one of a shortlist of developers eligible to use Crown lands to build wind farms — a decision which eventually led to 300 square kilometres of public land being reserved for the company’s potential use in 2023.
Nothing in provincial or federal law prohibits Parsons from lobbying decision-makers in Ottawa.
But NDP leader Jim Dinn said the speed of Parsons’s transition from minister to lobbyist for EVREC creates at least the perception of a conflict of interest.
“I have a problem with that, yes… as a provincial minister, you’ve got the inside track not only with the province but also with your federal counterparts,” Dinn said.
“There’s no two ways about it.”
Met with federal innovation minister in September
Parsons left politics on May 1, after 13 years as MHA for Burgeo-La Poile on Newfoundland’s south coast. The same month he resigned, he landed a job as senior counsel at Sussex Strategy Group, a public affairs firm headquartered in Toronto.
On Aug. 4, Parsons registered as a consultant for EVREC with the federal Registry of Lobbyists. According to the registry’s website, which tracks and allows users to view lobbying activities at the federal level, he communicated with federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Mélanie Joly on September 16.
Parsons did not respond to requests for an interview.
EVREC is proposing to build 3.5 gigawatts of wind production in the Botwood area, which would power a green hydrogen and ammonia plant. The company’s website values the project at $12 billion.
What do the rules say?
Manon Dion, a spokesperson for the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada, confirmed in an email that there are no federal rules prohibiting former provincial ministers from lobbying federal public office holders.
Newfoundland and Labrador Commissioner of Lobbyists Hilary Wicks Morrow said that former provincial ministers cannot lobby provincial MHAs, their staff or St. John’s city councillors for 12 months after leaving office. She explained, however, that there is nothing to prevent former ministers from lobbying federal decision-makers.
Public trust at play, says NDP leader
Dinn, who made efforts to reduce real and perceived conflicts of interest a key plank of the NDP campaign during last October’s provincial election, said he believes the current regulations governing lobbying by former politicos need to be “tightened up.”
Provincial NDP Leader Jim Dinn says the speed of Parsons’s transition from minister to lobbyist for EVREC creates at least the perception of a conflict of interest. (Patrick Butler/CBC)
“There is a perception, obviously, that politicians are in it for their own good. I don’t buy that, I think everyone who gets in here signs up for the right reasons,” Dinn said.
“But obviously, if we’re going to nurture that trust and restore that trust, then it comes down to making rules for ourselves that clearly demonstrate a reinforced notion that we’re here not to serve ourselves, but to serve the people we represent.”
The province’s Minister of Justice and Public Safety Helen Conway Ottenheimer declined an interview request and didn’t answer questions about whether the new PC government intends to strengthen regulations for ministers-turned-lobbyists.
Liberal Leader John Hogan, for years Parsons’s cabinet colleague, also refused an interview request.
“[The] lobbying activities you are referring to are federal in nature and as such are best answered by the federal government,” said Hogan’s spokesperson Sonja Pomeroy.
During the election campaign, the NDP suggested extending from 12 to 48 months the “cooling off” period during which elected officials who leave provincial politics are prohibited from lobbying current provincial decision-makers.
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