Liberal leader Justin Trudeau salutes the crowd flanked by local candidate Melanie Joly during a campaign event Thursday, October 15, 2015 in Montreal.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
The co-chair of the Liberal election campaign started working for TransCanada Corp. in the spring, providing advice to the firm on its controversial Energy East pipeline project at the same time he was trying to help Justin Trudeau win the next election.
Dan Gagnier was forced to resign after revelations he had recently advised TransCanada on the best way to lobby the next government, which could well be Liberal. Mr. Trudeau was critical of his former top adviser's role with TransCanada on Thursday, acknowledging it created the perception he was selling knowledge acquired on the Liberal campaign trail.
"[Mr. Gagnier] acted in an inappropriate way a few days ago, and when we found out about it, we sat down with him. He chose to do the responsible thing and step down from our campaign," Mr. Trudeau said at a news conference. "It's a way of demonstrating the fact that we take ethical standards and responsibilities extremely seriously."
Until last week, Mr. Gagnier was one of the top five advisers to Mr. Trudeau, spending time on the Liberal Leader's tour bus and helping with debate preparation.
A veteran of politics with high-level experience in the private sector, he stood out among the senior Liberals who advise Mr. Trudeau daily. Mr. Gagnier is in his late 60s and his time in Ottawa goes back to the 1970s, while Mr. Trudeau other close advisers are only in their 30s and 40s. As the Liberal Leader since 2013, Mr. Trudeau has benefited from the fact a majority of his team had no ties to the Liberal scandals of the past, or the Martin-Chrétien internal wars.
One of the main qualities that Mr. Gagnier brought to the team, according to his former colleagues, was the calming influence of someone who had seen it all and was able to pass along bits of wisdom.
TransCanada said it hired Mr. Gagnier in the spring primarily to guide the firm "on how best to communicate the benefits of the [Energy East] project to Canadians." His downfall started on Monday, when he sent a note to officials at the firm about the potential scenarios after the Oct. 19 election, including ways to lobby federal officials on its development and pipeline projects.
His involvement became public on Wednesday, when his e-mail to the firm was leaked to the media. The news quickly fed a series of attacks from the NDP and the Conservative Party, which argued that the Liberals had not fundamentally changed under Mr. Trudeau's leadership.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said the behaviour exhibited by Mr. Gagnier demonstrates the Liberal Party remains unfit to govern. "I think we should all understand that the culture of the Liberal Party, which gave us the sponsorship scandal, has not changed," Mr. Harper said during a campaign stop in Trois-Rivières.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said Mr. Trudeau cannot be trusted. Campaigning in Lac-Saint-Jean, Que., Mr. Mulcair said the note from Mr. Gagnier reminds Quebeckers that the Liberals were behind the sponsorship scandal that saw them turfed from power in 2006. "They're being reminded again that it really is still the same old Liberal party. They can put a fresh face on it. But behind the scenes it's still the same old gang pulling the same old tricks," Mr. Mulcair said.
The Liberal Party initially defended Mr. Gagnier, stating he did not break any rules. On Wednesday evening, however, Mr. Gagnier announced he was stepping down to avoid becoming a distraction. On Thursday morning, Mr. Trudeau was highly critical of Mr. Gagnier's actions, stating a message had to be sent out about the high ethical bar in his team.
Mr. Gagnier's ties to TransCanada were reported in the business media, but the Liberal Party said it thought that Mr. Gagnier was working with the firm on "issues related to the provincial Quebec government."
"When it became known that he was advising his client on federal transition issues, we took the steps that we did," said Liberal spokeswoman Kate Purchase.
Mr. Trudeau insisted that Mr. Gagnier, given his ties to the oil industry, never advised the Liberal Party on its environmental or energy policies.
"Mr. Gagnier has stepped down and stepped away from my team and from our campaign for the long-term future," he said.
The controversy is the biggest blow of the campaign for the Liberals, especially as it came just as Mr. Trudeau launched a one-day tour with five stops in the Montreal area. TransCanada's Energy East project has created much controversy in the province, becoming a lightning rod for opposition to pipelines in the environmental movement.
Mr. Gagnier was an adviser on aboriginal issues to the Quebec government. Several First Nations leaders in Quebec have come out strongly in opposition to Energy East, complaining they are not being properly consulted by the government and the National Energy Board.
Over the years, Mr. Gagnier worked for the federal and the Ontario government, as well as Alcan and a number of business groups. He was chief of staff to former Quebec premier Jean Charest between 2007 and 2009, returning for a shorter period in 2012. In recent years, he has played a prominent role in the country's energy and environment debates.
With reports from Shawn McCarthy in Ottawa, Steven Chase in Trois-Rivières, Que., and Gloria Galloway in Alma, Que.