As part of a voluntary compliance agreement with the Commissioner of Canada Elections, the country’s elections watchdog, the company acknowleged that some former executives had asked employees to donate money to political parties.
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Montreal-based global engineering giant SNC-Lavalin continues to dig out from a series of corporate governance scandals, this time involving improper donations to federal political parties over a seven-year period ending in 2011.
The commissioner says the contributions were made to the Liberals and Conservatives between March 9, 2004, and May 1, 2011.
The federal elections commissioner says SNC-Lavalin (SNC.TO) has entered into a compliance agreement for making almost $118,000 in contributions that violated the Canada Elections Act over a seven-year period.
SNC-Lavalin “acknowledges that, in offering to reimburse its employees for federal political contributions, and in reimbursing such contributions, it was in fact making those contributions itself”, according to the compliance agreement.
In all, the Liberal Party of Canada received $83,534.51 and the Conservative Party of Canada received $3,137.73, while various Conservative riding associations and candidates received $5,050.
The company has acknowledged “non-compliance” and “accepts responsibility for these acts” but it has not made “an admission of guilt under criminal law”, the agreement said.
“Our cooperation with the Commissioner reflects the efforts and progress we have made in terms of ethics and compliance since 2012, which our clients and partners now recognize”, SNC Chief Executive Neil Bruce said in a statement. “It once again shows our desire and commitment to resolve past issues”, Bruce said in a press release Thursday. That came after the provincial government launched a program past year aimed at recovering money paid in connection with public contracts obtained as a result of fraud or fraudulent tactics. The company has adopted new ethical and compliance measures to prevent such donations from reoccurring, he said.
The company faces criminal fraud and corruption charges over allegations of illegal activity in Libya.
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Analysts estimate as much as 20 per cent of SNC-Lavalin’s business is with Canadian governments. More information about compliance agreements can be found at sections 517 to 521 of the Canada Elections Act. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. cooperated fully with the Commissioner and has committed to collaborating with the office for the duration of its ongoing investigation.
