‘Massive Conflict of Interest’: Opposition Parties Say LCBO President Should Resign, Face Investigation Over Role With Big Business Lobby Group

Ontario’s opposition parties are calling for the LCBO’s President to resign and face an ethics investigation over a “massive conflict of interest” over his conflicting roles running a public crown corporation at the same time as he sits on the board of a big business lobby group.

Earlier this week, PressProgress reported LCBO President and CEO George Soleas is sitting on the board of directors for the Retail Council of Canada at the same time as he runs the LCBO. The RCC is currently lobbying the Government of Ontario to privatize alcohol sales.

The RCC’s members include big corporations that would stand to gain a substantial financial benefit from privatizing alcohol sales in Ontario, including Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro and Walmart.

Public accountability groups describe these dual roles as a “clear conflict of interest,” noting Soleas’ role as a board member gives him a “legal duty to advance the interests of the RCC and its members.”

NEW: LCBO President also sits on the board of a big business group actively lobbying Doug Ford to privatize alcohol sales.

Public accountability groups and labour leaders call it a ‘clear conflict of interest’ and a ‘betrayal of the public trust’https://t.co/1vryJmFpEv #onpoli

— PressProgress (@pressprogress) July 22, 2024

Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles, who is the leader of the Official Opposition, agrees Soleas’ double duties puts his duty to the public interest at odds with his duty to corporate members of his private lobby group.

“This is a massive conflict of interest,” Stiles told PressProgress, adding that it is not tenable for Soleas to continue serving public and private interests at the same time.

“Mr. Soleas should consider resigning from his roles since his priorities don’t seem to be in the right place,” Stiles said. “Time and time again we have called for stronger integrity rules, especially when it comes to conflict of interest. It’s high time we have that conversation.”

“People deserve to know the truth behind why Ford and his politicians were ready to risk billions to speed through booze liberalization, and this raises serious questions about who comes first for this government.”

LCBO President and CEO George Soleas (Photo: Retail Council of Canada)

Mike Shreiner, the leader of Ontario’s Green Party, echoes Stiles’ concern, arguing that the President of the LCBO’s role with the Retail Council of Canada raises serious integrity issues.

“Heads of public bodies like the LCBO should not be serving on the boards of corporate lobby groups, especially when there is such a clear conflict of interest,” Shreiner told PressProgress.

“Greens would welcome an investigation from the Integrity Commissioner so that Ontarians can get answers to the many transparency and accountability flags that this raises.”

Neither Soleas nor the LCBO responded to requests for comment from PressProgress in response to opposition party leaders urging the crown corporation boss to resign or face an integrity investigation.

The LCBO previously justified Soleas’ role on the lobby group’s board of directors on the basis that the public crown corporation is “​​one of the largest retailers and wholesalers of beverage alcohol in the world.”

Corporations with representatives on Retail Council of Canada board (Graphic: PressProgress)

As PressProgress previously reported, during Soleas’ time on the RCC’s board, the big business lobby group has repeatedly sought to influence public policy and political debates in Ontario on issues relating to privatizing alcohol.

Lobbying records show the RCC is actively lobbying Ontario’s government on “the future of alcohol policy,” including “how to increase choice and convenience for consumers.” The lobby group was recently quoted in press releases issued by Doug Ford’s government endorsing their plans to privatize alcohol sales.

In March, the Retail Council of Canada sent out an email newsletter featuring Soleas’ photo that claimed the LCBO president “couldn’t be happier” that Ontario was privatizing alcohol sales.

During Ontario’s 2022 provincial election, the Retail Council of Canada promoted an issue-based website promoting a policy agenda for the retail sector. While the lobby group did not explicitly endorse any party, its position on privatizing alcohol sales mirrored Doug Ford’s Ontario PCs.

The lobby group also released a report in 2019 extolling the benefits of expanding privatized alcohol sales to grocery stores and convenience stores in Ontario.

Retail Council of Canada (Twitter)

Doug Ford’s plan to privatize sales of alcohol was the central issue in LCBO workers’ recently concluded strike, the first in its history, with OPSEU accusing Doug Ford of “handing over more of the alcohol market to big grocers and convenience chains like Loblaws and Circle K.”.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of the public accountability group Democracy Watch, says Soleas’ role serving on the board of a big business lobby group at the same time as he runs a public crown corporation is a “clear conflict of interest” and believes it is a potential violation of Ontario’s ethics laws.

“By being on the board of the Retail Council of Canada, a lobby group for private companies that are seeking changes to laws and regulations so they can sell alcohol, Mr. Soleas is clearly in violation of the ethics law for Ontario government employees,” Conacher told PressProgress.

“As a director of the RCC he has a legal duty to advance the interests of the RCC and its members,” Conacher explained. “The position the RCC has taken on alcohol sales conflicts with the interests of the LCBO so he is in a clear conflict of interest.”

Soleas was named the LCBO’s President and CEO in 2016, two years before Doug Ford’s Ontario PCs formed government. Soleas joined the RCC’s board of directors the following year in 2017 and has served as a director over the last seven years.

A spokesperson for the Ontario Liberals declined to take a position on Soleas’ involvement in the Retail Council of Canada, explaining the party is instead focused on calling for the Chair of the LCBO to resign.

“Bonnie Crombie and Ontario’s Liberals are focused on echoing our calls for the Chair of the LCBO, Carmine Nigro, to resign,” Ontario Liberal spokesperson Carter Brownlee told PressProgress.

Nigro is the president of Craft Development, a company that develops and manages retail box stores across Ontario. The real estate developer, who previously served as the Vice-Chairman of the PC Ontario Fund, was appointed as Chairman of the LCBO in 2019.

OPSEU President JP Hornick recently said appointments of Ford’s political allies to the LCBO board shows the crown corporation has been “politically hijacked.”

“This is a conflict of interest that only serves to advance Doug Ford’s personal political agenda,” Brownlee said. “Our position is that Doug Ford has used the LCBO as a political pawn in his plan to give $1 billion of taxpayer money to the big grocers and international breweries.”