Air Canada union blasts choice of new vice president

Air Canada has gone right to the Prime Minister's office to find a senior executive to lead the airline's government relations strategy.

Derek Vanstone is currently Harper's deputy chief of staff and was previously chief of staff to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty from 2007 to 2010.

He will become the airline's vice-president of corporate strategy, industry and government affairs, beginning Sept. 10.

Air Canada's union leaders quickly pounced on Vanstone's appointment as proof of the cosy relationship between the company and the federal government.

Andrew MacDougall, Harper's director of communications, said Vanstone had no "significant" dealings with Air Canada during his time in the Prime Minister's office.

Still, he discussed his move with Mary Dawson, Ottawa's conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, MacDougall said.

"Derek and Air Canada described the position in detail to the commissioner. She had a look and thought everything looked OK," he said in an interview.

"He took great care to work with the office of the ethics commissioner to make sure that everything was fine," MacDougall said. "The ethics commissioner was explicitly fine with the position as it was described to her."

He added Vanstone would be bound by provisions in the Conflict of Interest Act and the Lobbying Act meant to prevent public office holders from using their position to unfair advantage. For example, he's barred from lobbying the federal government for five years.

"He's followed all the appropriate steps and we wish him well," he said.

A spokesperson for Dawson's office said there is no requirement for their office to formally approve offers.

"We simply give advice to reporting public office holders on the basis of what they tell us about whether they would be in compliance with the Act's post-employment provisions," Margot Booth said in an email.

She declined to say more because dealings with public office holders are confidential.

Vanstone previously practised law in Toronto with the firm Gowling Lafleur Henderson.

He will take on part of the role currently held by Duncan Dee, who is leaving the airline at the end of September and who previously worked on Parliament Hill.

As Air Canada was sending out the news release, Vanstone was making the news public in an email sent to friends and colleagues.

"Air Canada is a great company, with some interesting challenges and I am very excited about this new chapter in my life," said Vanstone, who is leaving the Prime Minister's office on Aug. 10.

He reflected on his five years in Ottawa and said he was proud of his time working for two "amazing leaders" during what he called a "unique confluence of political and economic events."

His work in Flaherty's office during the economic crisis had caught the eyes of senior officials, resulting in a senior posting in the Prime Minister's office, second to chief of staff Nigel Wright.

CAW president Ken Lewenza called the appointment "suspicious," arguing Vanstone would have played a key role in the back-to-work legislation brought in Air Canada disputes in the past year.

"This is a significant conflict of interest," Lewenza said.

The struggling airline has been hit with labour unrest in the past year, marked by a strike, an illegal wildcat strike by machinists and baggage handlers and a sickout by pilots.

Ottawa has intervened in several disputes, blocking strikes and ordering arbitrators to settle contracts. Air Canada is also looking to the federal government for some relief on back payments to its pension plans that are due to resume in 2014 after a moratorium.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure if the closest guy to the Prime Minister's ear is now working for the employer that is requesting federal regulatory changes, it's likely they have their foot in the door," Lewenza said.

Copyright 2012 Toronto Star Newspapers Limited