Blacklock's Reporter

Liberals’ newly-appointed parliamentary secretary for international development was fired as a consular adviser a year ago, and unsuccessfully filed a human rights complaint against her Mexican hosts. The Embassy of Mexico yesterday declined an interview on the appointment of MP Karina Gould. “We have no comment on Ms. Gould,” an official said.

The MP for Burlington, Ont. last year was fired as a consultant for the Toronto office of ProMexico, a trade commission. Gould had been on the job nine months. In a subsequent human rights complaint, she alleged discrimination because of gender, age and “sexual orientation”. Gould is 28 and married.

The MP did not respond to Blacklock’s request for comment. Gould omitted all reference to the ProMexico post in her official campaign biography. The Prime Minister’s Office would not say if it was aware of Gould’s employment when she was appointed parliamentary secretary assigned to deal with foreign nationals, including Mexican authorities.

“The allegations describe the applicant’s employment up until the termination of her employment, which she says was a forced resignation due to a toxic work environment,” an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal adjudicator wrote in dismissing Gould’s allegations. “She describes a series of incidents which she believes show that she was targeted by her employer, treated unfairly and falsely accused of inadequate performance of her duties. She alleges that the reason for this treatment was her sex and age. Many of the allegations related to the applicant’s involvement in various trade shows and related events, and reports she prepared relating to trade issues.”

Gould was hired as a ProMexico consultant in January 2014 assigned to “generate business opportunities” for exporters, and fired by September. “The application alleges discrimination in employment or in the performance of a contract because of sex, sexual orientation and age,” wrote Tribunal adjudicator Brian Cook.

Gould also complained of “inter-office conflicts about job roles and alleged preferential treatment of other employees as compared to her treatment,” the adjudicator wrote. The Tribunal dismissed her complaint against Mexican diplomats as prohibited by the State Immunity Act.

The Tribunal made its ruling September 2, while Gould was campaigning for Parliament in Burlington. Gould won the riding by 2,400 over incumbent Conservative MP Mike Wallace, and was appointed as parliamentary secretary on December 2.

Gould made no mention of her firing or “toxic work” complaint in campaign literature. Her constituency office yesterday did not respond when asked for details of her Tribunal complaint.

By Tom Korski

An Ottawa lobbyist has paid $16,281 by Court order for copying Blacklock’s news content in breach of the Copyright Act. Dan Paszkowski, president and CEO of the Canadian Vintners Association, had declined a pre-litigation settlement of $314. “I don’t have a lot of time to spend in court,” he said at trial.

Evidence showed Paszkowski copied a December 13, 2013 article concerning his testimony at the Commons agriculture committee. The article, headlined “Vintners Appeal For Help Under Euro Trade Pact”, reported: “Winemakers are appealing for more subsidies to withstand the impact of a free trade pact with Europe.”

A Vintners employee criticized the article as “sensational” journalism: “That says that we were appealing for more subsidies, which I would say is totally false,” testified Beth McMahon, vice-president of government and public affairs. “We don’t see ourselves as having subsidies,” McMahon told Court; “I think anybody who works in government relations in this town understands that, first of all, the word ‘subsidies’ is not well-received”.

The article correctly noted vintners sought an increase in their $220,000 share of a Growing Forward 2 farm promotions program cost-shared with provinces. The Vintners Association also received $479,356 in funding from the Department of Agriculture in the last reporting year, according to the Lobbyist Registry.

Blacklock’s sued after Paszkowski refused to explain how he obtained a copy of the paywalled article, and declined the $314 payment — the cost of two individual subscriptions. “The Canadian Vintners Association is not a subscriber to Blacklock’s and is therefore not bound by your terms and conditions,” he wrote in a January 17, 2014 letter to the company.

Paszkowski by Court order was compelled to name his source of the copied article, a secretary at another lobbyist’s office. In testimony, he said he knew the article could not be copied without payment or permission:

• PASZKOWSKI: “I did know it was from a subscription. My only purpose was to review it.”
• JUDGE: “You did not know – or you did know?”
• PASZKOWSKI: “I did know. I did know that they were a subscriber. I did know that it was subscription based.”

Deputy Judge Lyon Gilbert of Ontario Divisional Court’s small claims branch ordered the Vintners Association to pay the five-figure judgment including the value of a commercial licensing agreement, legal costs and $2,000 in punitive damages. “They continued to stand steadfast to the notion that they had done nothing wrong while knowing they had taken steps to bypass the paywall,” Gilbert wrote.

“You are prohibited from circumventing a technological protection which uses an effective technology to control access to a work,” wrote Gilbert, citing section 41.1 of the Copyright Act. “What the defendants did is just that. They knew there was limited access to the full article; they knew that access was subscription-based only, and that subscriptions cost money; they knew that there was a technological barrier to that access; they knew that unless they paid they could not get it. They knew and chose another way around it.”

The winemakers had claimed exemption under a “fair dealing” defence that permits copying under strict circumstances “for the purpose of either research or private study”. The Vintners Association represents 59 companies and trade groups that account for 90 percent of the nation’s wine producers.

“It must be remembered that the corporate defendant had in mind its own economic and commercial value in accessing the material, and was seeking to maintain its credibility as a lobbyist with government, and to protect its members’ financial interests,” Judge Gilbert wrote.

Paszkowski prior to the lawsuit expressed enthusiasm for Blacklock’s content: “I am aware that you have a very broad subscription base,” he wrote the company December 17, 2013: “We have discussed Blacklock’s publication with colleagues and have identified several who believe that your publication offers great information and value.”

By Staff