Gas lobby group defends hiring N.B. advisor

Canada's oil-and-gas lobby group is defending its hiring of a New Brunswick government insider as its new lobbyist, saying she was selected based on her skills and not her connections.

Angie Leonard is now a senior advisor for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which is one of the oil-and-gas industry’s largest lobby groups.

She accepted the position before Christmas, but up until last Friday she was helping to set natural gas policy for Premier David Alward's government.

Paul Barnes, the association's manager for Atlantic Canada, said Leonard's job with the provincial government's shale gas working group was not a factor in her being hired by the association.

"It had no role," he said, noting she was hired in a competitive process.

"Angie scored the highest and that was largely based on the fact that she had a good knowledge of the oil and natural gas industry in New Brunswick, and had an extensive community engagement role in her previous position."

The fact that Leonard is the sister of Energy Minister Craig Leonard wasn't a factor either, said Barnes.

She was hired mainly to deal with business leaders and communities, he said.

Still, the Alward government has said Leonard won't be able to discuss shale gas with any of the ministers or senior officials involved in the file, including her brother.

"This would be due to the perceived appearance of a conflict," Steven Benteau, the director of communications for the Department of Natural Resources, has said.

Leonard's hiring comes a month after it was learned that Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup hired an ex-lobbyist to be his political assistant.

Jim Balcomb, who had spent nine months working as a consultant for Apache Canada, an oil and gas company, is Northrup's executive assistant.

The role of an executive assistant can change depending on a cabinet minister’s desire for that position. Executive assistants normally hold advisory positions and often travel with the ministers to different events.

Lobbyist rules

As it stands, there is no law or rule that prevents Leonard from going to work for the oil-and-gas industry.

There is also no rule that would require someone to immediately leave a position where they might have access to sensitive information that his or her new employer might want.

In addition, there is no New Brunswick law that would require Leonard to register to lobby the provincial government on any issue.

She is, however, listed as a lobbyist on the federal government's lobbyist registry in Ottawa.

Barnes said he wouldn't have a problem if the province required the association to publicly register its lobbyists.

Last year, the Alward government introduced a lobbyist registry bill, but it was never passed out of second reading.

The province is now looking to piggyback onto Nova Scotia's registry.

Lobbyists are paid consultants or employees of a corporation or organization who arrange meetings with government officials or try to influence decisions.

The Alward government promised a new law after it was revealed that friends of former Liberal premier Shawn Graham became consultants and were paid to set up meetings with his government.

The government had also planned to set up an Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, which would be a new independent office of the legislature.

But Bernard Richard, the former ombudsman, has recommended not setting up any new independent offices of the legislature until after the province’s financial situation has been turned around.

Leonard has worked as an accountant, a bookkeeper, and a real estate agent.

She then went to work for Business New Brunswick under the previous government and was seconded from that role to the shale gas working group.