Ehren Cory, CEO of Canada Infrastructure Bank, in Toronto, on April 19, 2023. Connections between Cory and Darren Smart, Parkland Corp.'s senior vice-president of energy transition and corporate development, gave rise to an anonymous complaint concerning alleged conflicts of interest.Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail
The Canada Infrastructure Bank’s board investigated its chief executive officer over an allegation of conflict of interest in a $210-million financing, a probe conducted by a high-profile employment lawyer who found there was no wrongdoing.
The complaint stems from a 2023 deal between the CIB and Calgary-based Parkland Corp., which owns convenience stores and gas stations throughout North America and the Caribbean. The Crown corporation said it would provide the financing to help Parkland expand its electric-vehicle charging network in British Columbia.
In the news release announcing the funding in November, CIB’s CEO Ehren Cory is quoted celebrating the deal, as is Darren Smart, Parkland’s senior vice-president of energy transition and corporate development.
Connections between Mr. Cory and Mr. Smart gave rise to an anonymous complaint concerning alleged conflicts of interest. The spouses of both men, Robin Cory and Margot Smart, are the two principals of a small consulting firm, Colbeck Strategic Advisors, which works with non-profits and foundations.
But after a months-long investigation, which ended in June, the CIB’s board concluded that Mr. Cory properly disclosed the potential conflict and that the ties between his spouse and Mr. Smart’s spouse were not sufficient to affect Mr. Cory’s objectivity.
The board’s investigation also included a review of another alleged conflict of interest involving a former CIB official in a different deal. That official, former managing director Carl Landry, was also cleared.
The probe was led by high-profile workplace investigator Janice Rubin, who conducted the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.’s independent investigation related to former radio host Jian Ghomeshi.
In response to questions from The Globe and Mail about the probe, interim CIB chair Jane Bird said an anonymous complainant initially submitted a report in October to the bank alleging workplace discrimination, but did not initially mention conflicts of interest.
The bank says the allegation about a potential conflict of interest was first included in another anonymous e-mail sent by the same person on April 5 to Infrastructure Minister Sean Fraser, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and all other federal party leaders. Ms. Bird said the bank apologized to the complainant for the delay in responding to the October e-mail, blaming it on a breakdown of the bank’s reporting website.
The complainant identified themselves as a bank employee, but Ms. Bird said the board does not know the person’s identity.
The bank said the allegation of workplace discrimination was also thoroughly investigated and found to be without merit.
Matthew Dillon-Leitch, a spokesperson for Mr. Fraser, criticized the bank for not responding to the initial October complaint.
“While the CIB board acted promptly to address the complaint once the April 5th email was brought to their attention, it is unacceptable that the complaint made in October was not addressed by the CIB, until that time,” he said in an e-mail.
Ms. Bird said Ms. Rubin’s investigation found that Mr. Cory and Mr. Smart were acquaintances and not close friends. It also concluded that, although Ms. Cory and Ms. Smart were business partners, they were not close friends, Ms. Bird said.
Ms. Bird said the probe found that although Ms. Smart and Ms. Cory share a website through their company, the two work independently in different cities and don’t share revenue or expenses.
“The relationship between the Corys and the Smarts was not of sufficient closeness that it impacted on Mr. Cory’s ability to be objective about the Parkland project,” Ms. Bird wrote in summarizing Ms. Rubin’s findings. Ms. Bird declined to provide a copy of the Rubin report or make Ms. Rubin available, citing the importance of “preserving the integrity and confidentiality of the investigation process.”
Ms. Bird said Mr. Cory properly disclosed the potential of a conflict to CIB colleagues in April, 2023, seven months before the deal was finalized and announced publicly. The bank’s general counsel reviewed the matter and concluded there was no real or perceived conflict and that Mr. Cory did not need to recuse himself.
“CIB was comfortable having Mr. Cory quoted in the press release announcing the investment precisely because his relationship had been fully and properly disclosed and considered in accordance with our policies,” Ms. Bird said.
The website for Colbeck lists Ms. Cory as being based in Toronto and Ms. Smart in Calgary. Incorporation records show Ms. Cory and Ms. Smart registered the company in 2013.
Parkland spokesperson Simon Scott said in an e-mail that the company participated in a rigorous 12-month process with the bank, with legal engagement throughout, ahead of the announcement.
The complaint probed by Ms. Rubin and the board also alleged that Mr. Landry, the bank’s then-managing director, was in a conflict. In April, 2023, the bank lent $277-million to a joint venture that included Suncor, where Mr. Landry’s spouse worked at the time as senior legal counsel.
The board’s review also concluded that Mr. Landry was not in a conflict of interest, and that he had properly disclosed his spouse’s role at Suncor on multiple occasions. “Mr. Landry had no decision-making power over whether to invest in a project or not; and Mr. Landry’s spouse was not involved in the discussion and negotiations related to the project,” Ms. Bird said.
From April, 2021, until May of this year, Mr. Landry was a member of the board of directors for Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a green technology fund, which the government announced in June will be folded into the National Research Council after the Auditor-General found a series of conflict-of-interest breaches.
Controversy over the green technology fund has led to months of committee hearings on Parliament Hill and increased scrutiny over how arm’s-length federal bodies award contracts.
In the case of the green fund, the federal government commissioned law firm McCarthy Tétrault to examine employment and human-resources complaints. That report found the facts did not support allegations such as workplace harassment, bullying or discriminatory firings.
However, a separate report by Auditor-General Karen Hogan found a series of conflict-of-interest breaches, including 90 instances where funding for projects was approved when conflict-of-interest policies weren’t followed.
Mr. Landry could not be reached for comment.