Solar company “shocked” over proposal from Jaffer firm

[daleo]

OTTAWA—The director of a solar power company says he was “shocked” to learn Green Power Generation Corp. – the consulting firm co-founded by ex-MP Rahim Jaffer – had submitted a proposal for federal money without its permission.

“I was as shocked as anybody this morning when I sort of found out that our company was listed on what was being described as a proposal,” said former Liberal MP Joe Louis Jordan, who is a director of a company run by his brother, Michael Jordan, called Upper Canada Solar Generation Ltd.

The Star obtained summaries of three proposals for projects worth a total of $850 million that Green Power Generation submitted to Conservative MP Brian Jean, the parliamentary secretary to Transport Minister John Baird, to be considered for government money under the billion-dollar Green Infrastructure Fund.

...http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/799240--solar-company-shocked-over-proposal-from-jaffer-firm?bn=1

[Spazito]

1. Oh my ....

This is getting even more interesting! Everyone and their dog can't distance themselves fast enough from this.

[daleo]

2. This is pretty weird

They were lobbying on behalf of companies that weren't even aware of it?

Either they had some scam going (get the federal money and abscond?), or these companies aren't telling the whole truth.

[Spazito]

3. This paragraph stood out for me...

“I took a briefing note that I had on our company that I used on numerous occasions to sort of describe who we are and what we do and parts of that ended up in this (proposal) document,” Jordan said Thursday. “At the time, it was a case of I was supplying this briefing note to our panel manufacturer and they were going to pursue whether or not this stuff was eligible.”

So, did he give the briefing note to Glemaud or did he give it to his "panel manufacturer" and it ended up with Glemaud? It really isn't very clear, imo.

It is pretty weird, indeed.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

4. Racism card now in play.

On the plus side, this should be sufficient to avoid the unpleasantness of contempt charges, although I'm not sure how well committee members will respond to the suggestion that "racism seemed to be the underlying logic for such harsh treatment of two young new Canadians that have not been found guilty of any crimes," even if passed along as an observation gleaned from "several respectable citizens from various visible minority groups" who "approached" him after yesterday's appearance. I guess we'll soon find out.

http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/04/from-the-desk-of-patrick-glemaud-full---if-a-little-bit-after-the-fact---disclosure----plus-veiled-a.html

[daleo]

5. I had assumed this would come up eventually

Cheats and scoundrels come from every part of society, though - immigrants and non-immigrants, religious and secular, and all colors of the rainbow. It's what makes this such a great country.