OTTAWA, Oct. 6, 2014 /CNW/ - On Friday, October 3, 2014, the RCMP Ottawa Detachment Financial Crime Section charged Mr. James Carroll, a consultant lobbyist of Ottawa, Ontario with failure to file a return with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying as required by Section 5(1) of the Lobbying Act, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 14(1) of the Lobbying Act.
In April 2013, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying (OCL) received a complaint from the Director of a health centre located in Ottawa, Ontario, regarding Mr. James Carroll, a consultant with a local consulting firm in Ottawa. The health centre hired Mr. Carroll in July 2012 to lobby the Government of Canada to adopt a pilot project that would test the application of the health centre's technology.
In November 2013, the RCMP Ottawa Detachment Financial Crime Section received the referral from the OCL and commenced its investigation and determined that Mr. James Carroll entered into an undertaking to communicate with public office holders for payment; however, he failed to file a return which is in contravention of the Lobbying Act.
The economic integrity of the Canadian economy and government is a priority of the RCMP. In this case, the goal of Ottawa Detachment Financial Crime investigators was to ensure transparency and accountability in the lobbying of public office holders in order to maintain the public's confidence in the integrity of government decision making.
For more information, please consult the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada web site at www.ocl-cal.gc.ca.
SOURCE: Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Jean Turner
RCMP "O" Division Media Relations
519-640-7431
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