Tasty treats and bottles of bubbly are among the gifts provided to cabinet ministers by embassies and stakeholder groups looking to leave an impression with cabinet ministers, recently released documents suggest.
While more expensive gifts - those over $200 - have to be declared by MPs on a public registry, and those over $1,000 forfeited to the Crown, bottles of Champagne and baskets of Godiva chocolates seem to be two of the most-gifted items used by diplomats and others to show their appreciation to Canadian parliamentarians.
Last spring, Conservative MP Sylvie Boucher filed a request in the House of Commons for lists of gifts received by cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries from Nov. 4, 2015, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet was sworn in, to April 22, 2016. The records were among a number of documents released through the House last week.
Some ministers didn't answer the request, referring Boucher to the public registry administered by Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains are among the ministers who didn't provide lists of gifts. Trudeau also referred Boucher to the registry, which doesn't track gifts worth less than $200.
Other ministers provided lists of gifts under $200, which include some unique tokens along with the sweet treats.
The lists show several cabinet ministers received bottles of Moët et Chandon Champagne from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, which represents Taiwan's interests. The bottles, worth around $64, were sent to a number of ministers, including Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay, Immigration Minister John McCallum, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's office also reported a bottle of Champagne, although the provider wasn't listed.
MacAulay, McCallum and Goodale also received what must have been enormous baskets of chocolates from the embassy of Qatar, with the value of the Godiva baskets declared to be anywhere from $150 to $160. Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi also declared a box of Godiva chocolates from the same embassy, although his office valued it at $25. Wilson-Raybould declared a box of chocolates worth $165, with no sender recorded.
Goodale was also the lucky receipient of several additional bottles of wine, including a 2013 Saint-Emilion Calvet valued at $20 from the embassy of the United Arab Emirates, as well as a $600 Hermès scarf gifted by the French interior minister. That gift is also listed on the ethics commissioner's registry.
Other gifts were more creative: McCallum received a cookie jar shaped like a train from the CEO of CN Rail and a Bible from Conservative MP Mark Warawa. Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr accepted a toy truck from energy company Hess, and a tea set and cookbook from a Chilean cabinet minister. The Toronto Transit Commission gave Sohi a pair of work gloves, while Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson gave him a hockey puck, the value for which his office estimated at $10.
Moccasins were a popular gift for Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, who received several pairs from First Nation groups, ranging in value from $70 to $175. Wilson-Raybould accepted a variety of gifts that reflect her indigenous heritage, including a cedar hat from the British Columbia chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations, with an estimated value of $500, a handmade star blanket quilt from a group described as the Downtown Eastside murdered and missing women, and several blankets and shawls from indigenous groups.
The Conflict of Interest Act bars MPs and senators from accepting gifts that "could reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the public office holder in the exercise of an official power," regardless of the gift's value. The ethics commissioner makes exceptions for gifts that are a normal expression of courtesy or protocol, like token gifts received after giving a speech or presentation.
