B.C. premier's office was lobbied by the daughter of one of its top strategists

B.C.’s Office of the Premier was lobbied by the daughter of one of its top strategists, Glacier Media has learned.

She later added in an email: “There was no conflict. My role with Paper Excellence was properly registered and fully disclosed to all parties.” “But you also really, really need to have a public that can have confidence that decisions are being taken in the public interests of the province without even the appearance of impropriety.”

Bob Dewar’s daughter, Maeghan, also worked as a senior advisor for Doer, and “was a key part of Jack Layton’s team during the 2011 federal breakthrough,” according to a biography posted to the Vancouver-based public relations firm Longview Communications Inc., where she still works. Dewar has also lobbied members of the B.C. government on behalf of the salmon farm giant Cermaq Canada, Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd., Compliance Coal Corporation, and Parkland Fuel Corporation, among others.

Two years later, federal authorities fined its Mackenzie, B.C., mill $900,000 for leaking effluence into a lake. Both mills were added to Canada’s environmental offenders registry. Interviews with former employees as well as shipping and financial records suggest Paper Excellence has built a fibre pipeline shipping Canadian and French wood pulp to APP mills and affiliated logistics companies in Indonesia and China.

“There’s a questioning period right now,” he said. “This is a very big company that people know very little about.” At times, Dewar met with high level government officials alongside Moe Sihota, a former NDP president turned Paper Excellence lobbyist. Both have lobbied the government for assistance in securing access to tree fibre and to negotiate expiring Energy Purchase Agreements, documents show.

No apparent mechanism for oversight Michelle Mitchell, a spokesperson for the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, and Alyne Mochan, a legal officer for the Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, both said they have no jurisdiction in any potential or real conflict of interest involving the Dewars.

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B.C. premier's office was lobbied by the daughter of one of its top strategistsA Paper Excellence lobbyist solicited B.C.'s Office of the Premier while her father was a senior strategist for former premier John Horgan. The revelations come a day before the company faces investigation by a parliamentary committee.
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