VICTORIA – New Democrat MLA Maurine Karagianis today filed a complaint with the federal registrar of lobbyists alleging that Premier Gordon Campbell’s special advisor, Ken Dobell, has committed three violations of the federal Lobbyists’ Registration Act.

“In reviewing Mr. Dobell’s federal lobbying activities on behalf of the Premier’s Office and the City of Vancouver , it took me only a few days to discover that he has violated a serious federal statute. Twice Dobell failed to register within the statutory time period, and he also failed to disclose a conflict of interest before undertaking lobbying work, contrary to the Act. ” said Karagianis, the MLA for Esquimalt-Metchosin.

“Clearly the Premier was too quick to clear his friend and Special Advisor when the Opposition raised the irregularities with Mr. Dobell's lobbying activities,” said Karagianis. “These new violations raise new and serious questions about the way the Premier has handled the investigation into Mr. Dobell's lobbying activities. It's starting to look a lot like a cover-up."

Under the federal Lobbyist Registration Act, lobbyists must register within 10 days of entering into an undertaking to lobby the federal government. Lobbyists must also inform clients of potential conflicts and seek their consent prior to undertaking a project.

“We know from Mr. Dobell and documents released by the Premier’s office that he broke both these provisions on the cultural precincts project,” said Karagianis. “In addition it appears that Mr. Dobell also violated the registration timelines related to his lobbying activities undertaken in his capacity as the Premier’s Special Advisor. This puts the Special Advisor’s work on Gateway and the Softwood lumber issue under an ethical cloud.”

Under the federal law, violators can be fined up to $25,000, and the registrar of the act can investigate breaches of the act, compel the production of documents, and contact police if necessary.