An Ottawa lobbyist admits she didn’t comply with the City of Ottawa’s code of conduct rules after paying for the lunch of a member of Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s staff, but says the integrity commissioner found has no conflict of interest and has “closed the matter.” Candidate Alex Lawson filed a complaint with the city’s integrity commissioner Karen Shepherd last month, asking her to launch an investigation into five alleged code of conduct breaches that claim the mayor engaged in inappropriate conversations between members of his former campaign staff who are now lobbyists. Lawson published 100 pages of documents filed through municipal access to information requests to make the allegations and posted them to his campaign website. The complaints surrounded communications members of Sutcliffe’s staff had with the lobbying firm Syntax Strategic, specifically identifying founder and CEO Jennifer Stewart. The documents posted to Lawson’s website show emails between Syntax Strategic and the mayor’s office coordinating lunches and meetings. Stewart has long ties to Sutcliffe, including having served as one of the honourary campaign co-chairs in his 2022 mayoral campaign. On Monday, Stewart acknowledged to the integrity commissioner in a compliance agreement posted online that she paid for the lunch of a “public officer holder” in January 2026 and did not comply fully with the terms of the Lobbyist Registry Bylaw 2012-309 and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct. “I understand that acknowledgement of my non-compliance does not constitute an admission of intentional wrongdoing,” Stewart said in the report. “I am now fully aware of the relevant provisions of the Lobbyist Registry Bylaw 2012- 309 and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct. The Integrity Commissioner acknowledges that I and my organization have a good compliance history and that I fully cooperated with the Commissioner in this matter.” Complaint was “without merit” In a lengthy statement to CTV News Ottawa, Stewart said the integrity commissioner had “fully resolved” the allegations made against her and found there was no conflict of interest. She said Syntax remains in good standing with the City of Ottawa. “From the moment these allegations surfaced, I knew they were without merit because I knew we had conducted ourselves with integrity. I welcomed an independent review and was confident that a fair examination of the evidence would reach the right conclusion. It has,” she wrote. “Following that comprehensive review, the only corrective action arising from the entire matter related to the payment of a single personal lunch—an unintentional oversight that was resolved through a Compliance Agreement. There were no findings of conflict of interest and no basis for proceeding to a formal investigation.” Stewart adds that she retained Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP to represent her before the commissioner. She is asking “those who publicly advanced and repeated these allegations” to apologize. “What has been most disappointing is not that a complaint was filed - independent oversight is an important part of public accountability. It is that serious allegations were amplified publicly before the facts were known,” she said. “Accountability should apply to everyone.” Section 6 of the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct says those with active lobbying registrations, their registered clients or their employees shall not, directly, or indirectly, officer or provide any gift, benefit or hospitality to members of council or their staff. In the compliance agreement, the integrity commissioner acknowledges that the matter is now closed and will not impose any sanctions with regards to the complaint. The agreement did not mention the other allegations made by Lawson and did not name the staffer involved. Stewart tells CTV News that she believes the complaints were “sweeping allegations” pointed directly at her firm in a “politically motivated” way. Stewart says four out of the five allegations made against Syntax were dismissed. The fifth, resulted in the compliance agreement. “They want to sue me” Lawson’s complaint to the integrity commissioner alleges there were several organized lunches with Sutcliffe’s chief of staff Mathieu Gravel, including on two occasions in October and September 2025. Lawson says Stewart accepted a calendar invitation, sent from the mayor’s office to a lunch with Sutcliffe and the Syntax employees in September 2025. Stewart denies those took place. Only the one lunch in January 2026 was at issue in the compliance agreement. Sutcliffe attended a reception hosted by Syntax to celebrate the company’s 15-year anniversary at La Terrasse – the outdoor patio at the Chateau Laurier in June 2025. In a statement, Lawson did not apologize and did not directly respond to questions about possible legal action against him. “I blew the whistle. They admitted to breaking the rules, and now they want to sue me for blowing the whistle. I am going to continue to blow the whistle on the cozy relationship between the mayor’s office and his friends,” Lawson said in an emailed statement.
