June 15, 2012 - 1:22 PM
OTTAWA - The commissioner of lobbying says a former senior staffer in the Prime Minister's Office violated the rules in 2009 when he tried to arrange a meeting between another official and a wireless phone company.
Karen Shepherd says Keith Beardsley, a former deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was prohibited from lobbying at the time he made the call.
Certain office holders are barred from lobbying for five years after they leave government.
Shepherd's report says the November 2009 complaint about Beardsley came from Guy Giorno, who was then Harper's chief of staff.
While Shepherd concluded that Beardsley violated the lobbyists' code of conduct, the breach carries no penalty.
In 2010, Shepherd sent the file to the Mounties, but they decided against filing charges, saying they had insufficient evidence.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012