A top Ottawa lobbyist is acting as a senior representative of the Conservative Party in the campaign even though he is registered to lobby the Prime Minister's Office on behalf of four major corporations, records show.
Long-time Conservative Michael Coates has been Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's representative in the planning of the leaders' debates.
But Mr. Coates, who is the president of Hill & Knowlton Canada, is registered to lobby the PMO on behalf of Bell Canada, SNC Lavalin Nuclear, Merck Frost and the B.C. Lumber Trade Council.
The Bloc Québécois criticized Mr. Coates's dual roles, arguing that the relationship goes against Conservative pledges made in the 2006 campaign. Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said his own representative in the negotiations came from his office, and that Mr. Harper should not have used a person who is also working to influence the decisions of the PMO.
"How can Stephen Harper explain such promiscuity with a lobbyist who deals with his office?" Mr. Duceppe asked at a news conference.
When it was the official opposition, the Conservative Party attacked the close ties between lobbyists and government officials, and vowed to clean up Ottawa by preventing lobbyists from gaining from their political contacts.
"Politics will no longer be a stepping stone to a lucrative career lobbying government," Mr. Harper said in 2005.
The Conservatives rejected the Bloc attacks on Tuesday, saying that Mr. Coates is a volunteer.
"He was there to represent the Conservative Party of Canada," said party spokesman Bill Rodgers. "We appreciate his voluntarism and the fact that he has experience in these types of negotiations."
Mr. Rodgers said that Mr. Coates could do other volunteer work in the campaign, but that there are no plans at this time. He added no lobbyists are working in the Conservative war room.
During the debate negotiations, Mr. Coates told the broadcasters that Mr. Harper would not share the stage with the leader of the Green Party, which dashed Elizabeth May's hopes of participating.
Ms. May is fighting back against the decision. On Tuesday , callers to a Maritimes talk-show gave her overwhelming support.
"I'm grateful for the outpouring of outrage that we're seeing across the country," said Ms. May in response to one of the many calls of support on a CBC Maritimes call-in show.
The Green Party is seeking to block the debates with an injunction from the CRTC broadcast regulator. Failing that, the Greens will appeal to the Federal Court.
The NDP was criticized for opposing Ms. May's inclusion in the debates, but Leader Jack Layton said he was not afraid to debate her, and he rejected accusations of sexism. Mr. Layton said the past two leaders of the NDP were women who took part in the debates, and stressed that only parties with elected MPs can be included.
"Our party, of course, had two women participating in national debates and they did so by having members elected to the House of Commons," he said.
Still, Mr. Layton's site on Facebook was bombarded by people who expressed shock and dismay at his actions.
The NDP "is supposed to be different from the Liberal and Conservative garbage," a woman wrote.