Liberal MP's 'lobbying' questioned
Tories Turn Tables; Law firm website touts link to Derek Lee
National Post – May 7, 2010
By David Akin

The federal Conservatives, on the defensive for weeks over allegations that former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer may have engaged in illegal lobbying, were able to turn the tables yesterday when they discovered a Toronto law firm touting a Liberal MP as an influential lobbyist who could get things done for their corporate clients.

Derek Lee, a lawyer who has represented a Torontoarea riding since 1988, is also legal counsel for the law firm Sun and Partners.

Parts of a profile of Mr. Lee on the law firm's website were read in the House of Commons by Infrastructure Minister John Baird, who was cheered on by his caucus colleagues.

That paragraph said "Mr. Lee's valuable contributions to our clients include acting for foreign and offshore organizations in obtaining operating licenses, securing regulatory and governmental approvals for mergers and acquisitions ... advising government bodies on international issues regarding cross-border tax collection, anti-dumping issues, and lobbying government on policy issues as well as facilitating inter-governmental relationships."

Mr. Baird's counter-attack seemed to catch Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and other Liberal MPs by surprise and Mr. Ignatieff was clearly not pleased with the revelations. He did not speak to reporters yesterday.

"This raises a number of questions about the Liberal Party," Mr. Baird said. "Who is the Liberal Party's member of Parliament lobbying for? When he advises government bodies on cross-border tax collection, when he lobbies government on policy issues, when he calls a minister's office, who is he fighting for? Is he fighting for his constituents or some foreign, well-paid interest?"

Mr. Lee, in a statement issued after the daily question period in the Commons, said that his relationship with the law firm Sun and Partners had been disclosed to Parliament's conflict of interest commissioner and that he was "in full compliance with federal laws."

Nonetheless, Mr. Lee said he had asked the firm to remove his profile from its website and apologized "for any confusion this may have caused."

Mr. Lee also sent a letter to conflict of interest commissioner, Mary Dawson, asking her to review his files to ensure his continued compliance. In that letter, he told Ms. Dawson, "I have not engaged in any lobbying on behalf of my clients with the federal government."

The Liberals have been pressing the Conservatives to release documents they believe are being suppressed that shed more light on the contacts Mr. Jaffer had with his former colleagues as he sought more than $135-million in federal funding for several projects promoted by his firm, Green Power Generation.