MPs raise conflict of interest concerns over corporate-paid staff at federal Major Projects OfficeBlacklock's Reporter says the controversy emerged during testimony before the House of Commons environment committee, where Major Projects Office CEO Dawn Farrell acknowledged that some employees are partially paid by private companies while working for the federal agency.Farrell, who earns $679,000 annually, told MPs the Calgary-based office has approximately 200 employees evaluating major industrial projects across Canada.However, she could not say how many employees continue to receive corporate salaries or identify the companies involved.Conservative MP Branden Leslie (Portage-Lisgar, Man.) questioned why private corporations would provide employees to the federal government while continuing to pay as much as half their salaries."Is this just something out of the goodness of their heart?" Leslie asked."Well, because I'm asking them to," Farrell replied. "It is, actually."The Major Projects Office was established under Bill C-5, legislation passed in 2025 to accelerate federal approvals for major industrial developments considered to be in the national interest.The agency evaluates projects involving energy, transportation, communications and other sectors before they are considered for expedited cabinet approval.Farrell said the office relies on specialists from private industry to assess complicated proposals, including multibillion-dollar energy projects."We now have 200 people working on these projects," she testified."They have practices that cut across energy, transportation, communication and many other sectors."Leslie pressed Farrell to disclose which corporations were providing employees and how many workers remained on corporate payrolls."I don't have that data," Farrell responded.She said the identities of employees and their corporate sponsors were confidential.Leslie warned the arrangements could undermine public confidence in the agency's decisions."You can see how it's difficult for the public to not assume there are at least potential conflicts of interest," he said."I'm not saying there is wrongdoing here, but there's a clear potential for conflict of interest when these sort of financial relationships are not disclosed.".Farrell rejected the suggestion that the arrangements created conflicts."No, there are no conflicts of interest with these employees," she said.When Leslie asked whether the federal Ethics Commissioner had reviewed the arrangements, Farrell said the employees had undergone an internal screening process through the Privy Council Office and human resources officials."It's all been cleared," she said.Farrell explained that employees must disclose potential conflicts and are prohibited from working on projects involving companies with which they have financial or professional connections.Leslie questioned why the screening was not conducted by the Parliamentary Ethics Commissioner."There's no independent review of this assessment?" he asked. "You did it in-house with the Privy Council to figure out if there might be a conflict of interest here?"Farrell maintained that the officials responsible for reviewing employees were independent and that workers were required to sign conflict-of-interest declarations.She also defended the motivations of employees joining the agency."Employees are highly ethical," Farrell said. "They would never want to embarrass this country."She said the office recruits specialists to help evaluate complex projects, including financing arrangements for a potential $40-billion pipeline."When we phone companies and say we need someone who's got a specialty in finance, we need to evaluate the financing of a large $40 billion pipeline, we want to make sure we do it right," Farrell explained.Leslie suggested corporations could benefit from placing employees inside an agency responsible for recommending major project approvals."You can see private sector companies have value in this, in having the opportunity to have influence now or in the future," he said.Farrell did not respond directly to that observation.Conservative MP David Bexte (Bow River, Alta.) also questioned whether any employees had been seconded from Brookfield Asset Management, the multinational corporation formerly chaired by Prime Minister Mark Carney."No," Farrell replied..Bloc Québécois MP Patric Bonin (Repentigny, Que.) asked whether oil and gas companies were paying the salaries of any employees working at the agency."We have employees that are here with electricity companies," Farrell said. "There may be one or two from oil and gas. I'd have to check that."Bonin also questioned whether those employees had been assessed by the Ethics Commissioner.Farrell reiterated that the agency conducts its own ethics screening and prevents employees from participating in projects involving companies with which they are associated."It's a very extensive process that is set up in human resources where employees are interviewed," she said. "They are assessed for where their conflicts would be."Despite repeated questions from MPs, Farrell did not provide a list of participating corporations or the number of employees whose salaries are partially funded by private industry.
