Harper’s chief of staff faces scrutiny over Barrick Gold links – by Joan Bryden (Globe and Mail – August 28, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Ottawa — The Canadian Press – Pointed questions are beginning to swirl around Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, and whether he used his position to further the financial interests of friends at Barrick Gold Corp.

Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson is following up with Mr. Wright after the disclosure that he was lobbied twice by Barrick, the world’s largest gold producer, in May.

Mr. Wright has known Barrick founder and board chairman Peter Munk for years and is particularly close to his son, Anthony, who sits on Barrick’s board of directors.

Indeed, in a 2011 magazine article, Peter Munk disclosed that Mr. Wright is godfather to Anthony Munk’s son. Mr. Wright worked with Anthony at Onex Corp., the private equity investment giant from which Mr. Wright has taken a leave of absence to work for Harper.

Mr. Wright also served as a director on the board of the Aurea Foundation, a charitable foundation established by Peter Munk and his wife in 2006 to support the study and development of public policy. He resigned from the board shortly before joining Mr. Harper’s office in November, 2010.

In a story in the April, 2011 edition of The Walrus, Peter Munk lavished praise on Mr. Wright.

“I’d rank Nigel Wright among the mere handful of people I’ve met in whom I have complete trust,” Mr. Munk was quoted as saying. “He’s just one of those rare human beings with whom you feel totally comfortable in seeking an opinion or discussing complex issues, on any subject.”

According to a report summary filed by Barrick with the federal lobbying commissioner, someone from the company — the report does not identify who — contacted Mr. Wright on May 14 to discuss international relations and international trade.

Nine days later, a second report indicates, Barrick talked to Mr. Wright again on the same subject matter — this time along with Mr. Harper’s foreign policy adviser, Andrea van Vugt, and his principal secretary, Ray Novak, who is Mr. Harper’s point man on government-to-government relations.

Barrick’s contact with Mr. Wright came shortly after Mr. Harper blocked a resolution on Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands during the Summit of the Americas in Colombia in mid-April. The Globe and Mail reported at the time that Mr. Harper’s stance infuriated Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who stormed out of the conference, muttering, “This is pointless. Why did I even come here?”

Barrick operates a mine in Argentina and is developing another controversial open pit gold and silver mine that straddles the border between Chile and Argentina.

Companies were “freaked out” that Mr. Harper’s performance at the Summit of the Americas was making it harder for them to obtain permits from the Argentine government for their mining operations, said New Democrat MP and ethics critic Charlie Angus.

“What I was told was Canadian permitting suddenly got a lot more difficult, that there was an immediate blow-back on Canadian mining interests,” Mr. Angus said.

“We don’t know what was said at the meeting (with Wright). But we know what the interests were for Barrick, ” he added.

“There would have been an obvious reason they would want to meet … They’re interested in getting permitting for a very controversial mine site and they don’t need the prime minister making waves.”

The NDP is contemplating a formal complaint with the ethics commissioner’s office, Mr. Angus said, adding that Mr. Wright should not have participated in any discussion involving Barrick, regardless of the subject matter, given his relationship with the Munks.

For the rest of this article, please go to the Globe and Mail website: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harpers-chief-of-staff-faces-scrutiny-over-barrick-gold-links/article4504620/