Fishy business

Former Con MP John "I am not a lobbyist" Reynolds has added three more clients to his portfolio and finally registered himself as a lobbyist. Denying that he'd broken his promise not to become a lobbyist, Reynolds joined Lang Michener, a law firm whose clients lobby government, immediately after leaving the Cons early last year. He explained at the time that this didn't really count as lobbying because he'd promised not to lobby Steve.

His three new clients are all charities seeking federal funding, one of which is fronted by Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan.
Apparently Sam didn't know how to get hold of Steve and John said - hey just call his exec assistant! - and so Sam did, explains Reynolds.

The Accountability Act, proposed by the Cons to battle the revolving door between government and lobbyists and corporate interests, will be spinning full tilt come the next election as Reynolds returns to his previously held position as Harper's national campaign co-chair.

Disclosure : While we're on the subject of accountability, I feel I should mention that years ago I lived down the block from Reynolds' campaign headquarters and given that there was never anyone there for months on end, it seemed like a good idea at the time to put a dead fish through the letter box. This childish act of disrespectful vandalism has weighed on me strangely over the years and I would now like to take this opportunity to offer my most humble and heartfelt apologies to the cleaning staff.