PM's Spokesman Pressured Montreal Port Over Top Job

Stephen Harper's chief spokesman reportedly wined and dined the board of the Montreal Port Authority to convince members to pick a candidate.

The top two Conservatives in Quebec had to intervene to get the prime minister's spokesman to stop pressuring the board of directors of the Montreal Port Authority into hiring his choice for president in 2007. Lawrence Cannon and Michel Fortier, both cabinet ministers at the time, called the port's board to tell them to disregard any lobbying efforts by Dimitri Soudas, Stephen Harper's chief spokesman, who had reportedly taken board members out to dinner in a pitch to have them select Robert Abdallah, a Montreal engineer, as president of the port. The board picked a different candidate to direct the port, which generates $2 billion a year and is one of North America's busiest cargo terminals. Soudas has denied any wrongdoing in attempting to woo the board.

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