Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan resigns over improper letter to tax judge

OTTAWA—Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan has quit his cabinet post after admitting he improperly lobbied a federal tax court.

Duncan resigned Friday afternoon, revealing that he had written a character reference to the Tax Court of Canada in June, 2011 on behalf of a constituent.

“While the letter was written with honourable intentions, I realize that it was not appropriate for me, as a Minister of the Crown, to write to the Tax Court,” Duncan said in a statement.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and the consequences they have brought,” said Duncan, who informed Prime Minister Stephen Harper about his misstep on Thursday.

Cabinet ministers had been asked to review their correspondence after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was rebuked by the federal ethics watchdog in January for his own improper outreach.

Flaherty had written the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission on behalf of a company in his riding seeking a radio licence.

While Flaherty defended his letter, saying he was acting as an MP to help a constituent, ethics commissioner Mary Dawson said it was “improper.”

That clear ruling set in motion a review that uncovered Duncan’s letter.

“In June of 2011 I wrote a character reference letter to the Tax Court of Canada on behalf of an individual to whom my constituency staff was providing casework assistance on a Canada Revenue Agency matter,” Duncan said.

The letter written by Duncan was not released, so it’s not clear whether the aboriginal affairs minister was going to bat for someone facing sentencing for tax misdeeds.

“Ministers took it upon themselves to have a review and this is the only one that we are aware of. But it’s a clear violation and the minister did the right thing,” a senior official told the Star.

It’s been a bad week for the federal Conservatives: two Tory Senators are facing an audit of their expenses while a third was kicked out of caucus and put on leave from the Senate after being charged with assault and sexual assault.

Heritage Minister James Moore is taking over the aboriginal affairs portfolio until a replacement is named, which could happen soon, a source said.

“It’s an important portfolio, lots going on so I don’t imagine it will be too long,” the official said.

One candidate would be Greg Rickford, parliamentary secretary of aboriginal affairs, who has often served as the public face of the portfolio.

Duncan’s departure could mean a setback in the Harper government’s relations with First Nations or a chance to push reset.

Those relations have been marked in recent weeks by protests in the streets and a renewed push by First Nations representatives to get Harper’s government to make meaningful progress on their priorities.

Southern Manitoba Grand Chief Murray Clearsky wished Duncan “all the best.”

But he declined to say who might best replace him, saying through a spokesman it would be “hypocritical” for the prime minister to appoint anyone to replace Duncan because the entire Conservative cabinet and caucus have already voted to support further study of private member’s bill, Bill C-428, to eliminate the Indian Act. Harper also voted in December to send the bill to second reading in committee.

Gerald McIvor, Clearsky’s political adviser, said First Nations who are treaty rights holders believe that “it’s got to be nation to nation, not to have someone other than the prime minister and the Governor General speak to us.”

The NDP urged the government to act fast to appoint a replacement.

“The prime minister must move quickly to replace Mr. Duncan with a full-time minister . . . who can help the Conservative government change direction and start building a more respectful relationship with First Nations, Métis and Inuit,” said NDP MP Jean Crowder, the party’s aboriginal affairs critic.

In a statement, Harper thanked Duncan, who will remain as MP for Vancouver Island North, for his “many contributions.”

It’s a well-known political no-no for cabinet ministers to try to influence either the courts or independent tribunals and it has cost ministers their posts in the past.

In 1990, sports minister Jean Charest resigned for phoning a judge who was about to rule on a case involving the Canadian Track and Field Association.

David Collenette resigned as defence minister in 1996 after writing a letter to the Immigration and Refugee Board on behalf of a constituent — a resignation that allowed him to step away from trouble in his portfolio. At the time, the Jean Chrétien government was being rocked by controversy over the Canadian Forces’ mission in Somalia and an ongoing inquiry that put a cloud over the military and the defence department. (Collenette was subsequently returned to cabinet after the 1997 election, after the Somalia inquiry had been shut down.)

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