A federal Conservative candidate in New Brunswick lobbied for private nursing agency Canadian Health Labs but didn’t register his work until after The Globe and Mail published an investigation raising questions about the company’s billing practices.
Brian Macdonald, the Conservative candidate in the federal riding of Fredericton, lobbied for CHL in early 2023, a year after the agency signed major contracts in New Brunswick, but didn’t inform the province’s Integrity Commissioner until this year about his lobbying activity. His late registration, which was first reported by CBC, came 10 days after The Globe’s investigative report.
Under New Brunswick law, lobbyists must notify the province’s Integrity Commissioner within 15 days after the start of their undertaking on behalf of a client. Failure to comply can lead to a fine of up to $25,000 for a first-time offence.
Integrity Commissioner Charles Murray said in an interview that Mr. Macdonald contacted his office earlier this year to report that he hadn’t registered his work for CHL because the agency hadn’t provided him with the necessary documentation about its contracts in other jurisdictions.
That disclosure is necessary, Mr. Murray said, because “we want to understand the client’s overall interests and whether or not they’re conducting business with other provinces.”
The commissioner said Mr. Macdonald will not be prosecuted because he voluntarily reported the issue and had been transparent in his previous lobbying. “We don’t have a history of him being a bad actor or having engaged in questionable activities in the past.”
CHL’s contracts with New Brunswick’s French-language health authority are being reviewed by the province’s Auditor-General after The Globe reported on the company’s high costs and practice of billing officials for employee meals, while telling the nurses to pay for their own food.
When reached by The Globe, Mr. Macdonald said a response had to come from the Conservative Party because he is a candidate. The party didn’t reply to a request for comment. In a statement that he provided to the CBC, Mr. Macdonald said he didn’t register because he couldn’t list the agency’s contracts across Canada. “Despite my repeated requests, CHL did not provide that information.”
Mr. Murray said his office still does not have those contractual details.
Mr. Macdonald’s representation for CHL was eventually registered on Feb. 26, 10 days after the publication of The Globe’s investigation into the agency. The Globe reported that CHL charged New Brunswick more than $300 an hour for the services of a temporary nurse from out of the province, six times what a regular nurse earns in the public system.
CHL’s long-term New Brunswick contracts were signed in 2022 with the Vitalité Health Network, when the shortage of French-speaking nurses was more acute because of the pandemic. Vitalité officials say that most of their $98-million budget shortfall this year stems from their contracts with CHL.
Mr. Macdonald is a former member of the New Brunswick Legislature who left in 2018.
He lobbied a year after the contracts were signed. He reported in the registry that his work was “continuing and expanding Canadian Health Labs business in New Brunswick” and that he had intended to set up meetings with Premier Blaine Higgs, Health Minister Bruce Fitch and high-ranking civil servants.
Mr. Macdonald was present when CHL representatives met with Mr. Fitch in early 2023 but the agency never met Mr. Higgs, government spokesman Bruce Macfarlane said in an e-mail.
Earlier this year, deputy health minister Éric Beaulieu told a legislature committee that lobbyist Jordan O’Brien represented CHL when the agency first signed a contract with Vitalité. Mr. O’Brien is a former chief of staff for Mr. Higgs’s Liberal predecessor, Brian Gallant. The deputy minister made no mention of Mr. Macdonald.
“Mr. Macdonald played no role on any contracts with CHL and was only engaged for a few months in early 2023, long after all of the contracts had been signed,” Mr. Macfarlane said when The Globe asked why Mr. Beaulieu didn’t mention Mr. Macdonald in his testimony.
CHL has also hired lobbyists in other provinces. Records show that Mr. O’Brien also lobbied for CHL in Newfoundland, in Nova Scotia and in Alberta.
Mr. O’Brien and Amos Westropp, a Yukon-based consultant, are also registered as CHL lobbyists with the federal government.
The Alberta lobbyist registry shows that in addition to Mr. O’Brien, Chris Ghazouly of the consultancy Alberta North Projects Ltd. also worked for CHL.
Ontario’s registry lists four lobbying records for CHL, for Mr. O’Brien, Stephanie Gawur of Santis Health and Christopher Chapin and Christina Mitas of Upstream Strategy.
Michael Diamond, Upstream founding principal, lobbied for CHL in Manitoba. In Quebec, CHL hired lobbyist David Boudeweel-Lefebvre.
In a written statement sent Thursday, CHL didn’t directly mention lobbying but said its rates were justified by “the extraordinary logistical challenges of getting and keeping health care professionals in rural, remote and underserved communities.”
The statement said the agency helps “Canadians access quality health care by solving staffing shortages.”