“What we need to find out is how this happened,” he said in an interview. “When we find out that there was a lobbyist who had been working for Minister Baird, representing the company in question — we were under the impression that this was a sanction that was not relevant — but it is interesting and worthy of explanation.”
A Russian bank hired John Baird’s onetime provincial chief of staff to lobby the federal government to get the bank removed from the list of Russian firms facing sanctions over Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.
The then-Foreign Affairs Minister subsequently removed the bank from the list, but he and the lobbyist both say they never spoke about the matter. Meanwhile, ExpoBank LLC’s representatives say that it was only added to the list as a result of mistaken identity.
Expobank was added to the list April 28, 2014. A month later, lobbyist Will Stewart registered with the commissioner of lobbying “for the purpose of making an application to remove ExpoBank from the Schedule to the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations.”
Mr. Stewart was chief of staff when Mr. Baird served in the Ontario government. He was media director last year for the campaign of Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, and is a good friend of Mr. Baird’s.
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said he would like a better explanation from the government of how it came to list then delist ExpoBank.
more
Russian bank that hired John Baird’s onetime chief-of-staff removed from list of firms facing sanctions | National Post
A Russian bank hired John Baird’s onetime provincial chief of staff to lobby the federal government to get the bank removed from the list of Russian firms facing sanctions over Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.
The then-Foreign Affairs Minister subsequently removed the bank from the list, but he and the lobbyist both say they never spoke about the matter. Meanwhile, ExpoBank LLC’s representatives say that it was only added to the list as a result of mistaken identity.
Expobank was added to the list April 28, 2014. A month later, lobbyist Will Stewart registered with the commissioner of lobbying “for the purpose of making an application to remove ExpoBank from the Schedule to the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations.”
Mr. Stewart was chief of staff when Mr. Baird served in the Ontario government. He was media director last year for the campaign of Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, and is a good friend of Mr. Baird’s.
NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said he would like a better explanation from the government of how it came to list then delist ExpoBank.
more
Russian bank that hired John Baird’s onetime chief-of-staff removed from list of firms facing sanctions | National Post
