RCMP conclude no evidence of lobbying by former PM Jean Chrtien

RCMPhave concluded there is no evidence former Liberal prime ministerJean Chrtienlobbied Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeilor Business Minister Geoff MacLellanduring a closed-door meeting last year.

"The Nova Scotia RCMP Provincial Commercial Crime Section began an investigation which determined there was no evidence of lobbying and the investigation concluded without charges," said a three-paragraph news release Wednesdayfrom police.

The releasedid not name those involved, but retired union official John McCrackenconfirmedpolice were talking about the complaint he filed last year related to allegations Chrtien had lobbied the premier overa Cape Breton container terminal project.

He said he was disappointed but not surprised the police investigation ended without charges, basedon a conversation last month with the RCMP officer in charge of the file.

"Basically,what he told me was that the burden of proof on this type of complaint is such that he had to get one of the parties to admit that lobbying took place," said McCracken. "That was the burden of proof.

"So, he had to get Jean Chrtien or Stephen McNeil or Geoff MacLellan to admit something that they've denied all along."

Last March, Chrtien met with McNeil and MacLellan at the premier's office in downtown Halifax the day after the former prime minister attended an event in Sydney in which he promoted theport project.

Chrtien,who was not a registered lobbyist in Nova Scotia, is an international adviser to Sydney Harbour Investment Partners, which has been looking for support for the project.

Speaking to reporters at the Sydney event, hesuggested he would bring up the issue with McNeil, but the premier and MacLellan repeatedlysaid it never came up in conversation.

Nova Scotia's registrar of lobbyists wroteChrtienseeking more information about the meeting. When she didn't hear back,McCrackenfiled a complaint with police.

McNeiltold reporters Wednesdaythe assessment by police was proof of what he repeatedly said last spring, when the issue first arose.

"They investigated the complaint and came to the conclusion that no lobbying had taken place," said McNeil.

'Asked me a lot of questions'

The premier said he met with officers but could not recall if they specifically asked if he had been lobbied.

"I don't even remember if that was one of them, but they certainly asked me a lot of questions," he said.

"I have all the faith in law enforcement in the province to follow all the complaints that are brought before them,and they followed this one through and confirmed that no lobbying had taken place."

Both opposition party leaders are drawing a different conclusionthan McNeil from the police investigation.

PC Leader Tim Houston said it showedthe law needed to be changed to one similar to the federal registry where members of Parliament and senators need to disclose when they met with lobbyists and what they discussedduring those meetings.

"I think the fact that the policehad to get involvedto do an investigation tells us that we need to update our rules and there needs to be more transparency in the process," said Houston. "Nova Scotians should be able to know if somebody lobbied their government and what the topic was."

NDP Leader Gary Burrilltook a similar view.

"It just underlines the need for us to have a registrar of lobbyists to make these decisions," said Burrill. "These aren'tdecisions for politicians, they are also not decisions for police."