Sutcliffe denies rival candidate Lawson's lobbying complaint

A recent file photo of Mark Sutcliffe, who was elected mayor of Ottawa in October 2022. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA

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Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s office said he followed all applicable rules and disclosure requirements in response to a complaint filed by rival mayoral candidate Alex Lawson alleging breaches of lobbying regulations.

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Lawson filed his complaint with Karen Shepherd, the city’s integrity commissioner, on June 4, asking her office to launch an investigation into five alleged code of conduct breaches. Lawson is also asking the integrity commissioner to make a determination on five other matters that Lawson said could constitute lobbying without proper disclosure.

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Lawson’s campaign acquired 100 pages of emails and documents through a municipal freedom of information request and posted the correspondence along with the full complaint to the integrity commissioner on his campaign website. Copies were also sent by his campaign to local media.

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The allegations centre on communications between Sutcliffe’s office and the lobbying firm Syntax Strategic, Inc. Syntax founder and CEO Jennifer Stewart was named one of Sutcliffe’s many honorary campaign co-chairs in the 2022 City of Ottawa election.

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Lawson alleged the correspondence demonstrated a “cozy relationship” between the mayor and former members of his campaign team who are now lobbyists.

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“Lobbyists are paid big money by special interests to influence government decisions,” Lawson’s campaign said.

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Syntax chief operating officer Jennifer Madigan dismissed Lawson’s complaint as “spurious” and said the activities it outlined were “routine” event support.

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“Syntax takes its professional and regulatory obligations seriously and is committed to complying with all applicable laws, regulations and codes of conduct. We have not been notified of any complaint by the Lobbyist Registrar,” Madigan said in an emailed statement.

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“Based on the allegations that have been described publicly, many of the activities in question relate to routine event support, stakeholder engagement and community activities that are a normal part of the work of a communications and public affairs firm.”

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Madigan noted Lawson’s previous role as a consultant with the Political Intelligence Corp. lobbying firm.

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“We note that these allegations are being advanced by a lobbyist candidate for mayor,” Madigan wrote. “The obvious shopping of this spurious action to media by a political campaign speaks volumes.”

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The first complaint alleges a failure to file complete returns and lobbying without registration for a speech Sutcliffe delivered in April to mark the opening of the Alt Hotel Ottawa Airport.

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Lawson said Sutcliffe was given bulleted talking points to include in his speech from the Syntax lobbying firm on behalf of Le Germain Hotels and Alt Properties.

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Sutcliffe’s team defended the timing of the speech and said no lobbying took place.

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“The mayor is invited to business openings such as the Alt Hotel many times per month, often several times per week. It’s not unusual for him to attend the opening of a new business,” said Tahera Mufti, Sutcliffe’s director of communications. “Further, by the time a project reaches the ‘opening day’ stage, it has already been fully approved and constructed. There is no lobbying taking place at that point.”