Angry in the Great White North

[Here's an update in which a government database still shows David Smith as president of Abotech]

Liberal MP David Smith, representing Pontiac-Gatineau-Labelle since June 28, 2004, was president of Abotech Inc., a computer consulting firm. After being elected, he cut ties:

Mr. Smith said in an interview yesterday that he severed his ties to Abotech when he became a member of Parliament in 2004 and filled out all the necessary paperwork with the office of the ethics commissioner. Before he was an MP, Mr. Smith also was a contract worker for Public Works Canada.

"I no longer have an interest in that company, so I don't know why you're calling me on this," said Mr. Smith, who represents the Pontiac riding on the Quebec side of the National Capital Region.

Of course, by Liberal standards, cutting ties means having a close family member run the company.

In this case, it's his wife, Anne Ethier, who is listed as the majority owner.

And two other Smiths as part owners, and they live at the same address as David Smith.

But he has no ties to the company. Right.

Sleeping with the president counts in my books.

Why does this matter?

The federal government has terminated two contracts with a consulting firm that used to be run by a Liberal MP following a forensic audit of the contracting practices at a federal agency, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Earlier this year, KPMG audited $15-million in contracts awarded to a large number of companies by Consulting and Audit Canada since 2001 and found irregularities in the handling of contracts. One of the concerns raised was that sole-sourced contracts were directed to the computer consulting firm Abotech Inc., of which Liberal MP David Smith used to be the president.

Mr. Smith confirmed that he was interviewed by KPMG about federal contracts to Abotech, but said he was unaware that two active contracts worth about $200,000 were terminated in September. About $150,000 of the contracts had already been expended.

But one of the terminated contracts happened under his watch:

One of the terminated contracts, worth $110,000, was awarded in 2003, before Mr. Smith was elected to Parliament.

And more money flowed into the company prior to the 2004 election:

The KPMG audit estimated Abotech received about $1-million in federal contracts over the past five years, but Mr. Smith said the figure seems high to him. Public Works Canada records show that Abotech received almost $500,000 in contracts from the federal government in 2003 alone.

Scamming the Canadian taxpayer before the election, scamming the Canadian taxpayer after the election -- elections are just an annoying interruption for the Liberals.

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