Thread by @muradhem, The @NicoJohnson00 @TPostMillennial piece about the Liberal federal government giving $20 million [...]

The @NicoJohnson00 @TPostMillennial piece about the Liberal federal government giving $20 million to a company from which Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has earned income has a fatal flaw: chronology /1

The big claim of the piece (to which I won’t link) is this: “The Trudeau government gave $20 million to a venture capital investment company that the Liberal Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault advised.” That’s a true but misleading sentence /2

The firm in question is Cycle Capital Management (CCM), which was awarded $20 million from the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative’s (VCCI) $50 million Stream 3, for cleantech funds-of-funds /3

In a subsequent tweet, Johnson said Guilbeault’s spokesperson had not responded to “questions over whether the minister recused himself from cabinet discussions on the matter” /4 https://twitter.com/nicojohnson00/status/1294365300813639687

https://twitter.com/nicojohnson00/status/1294365300813639687

Thing is, CCM was awarded the money before Guilbeault was a member of the Liberal cabinet (which the office of Small Business Minister Mary Ng told TPM in any case did not make the VCCI decision), before he was a Liberal MP, and in fact before he was a Liberal candidate /5

Here’s the timeline:

Jun 5, 2019: Ng announces CCM to get $20 million from VCCI
Jul 10, 2019: Guilbeault nominated as Laurier-Sainte-Marie Liberal candidate
Oct 22, 2019: Guilbeault elected Laurier-Sainte-Marie MP
Nov 20, 2019: Guilbeault sworn in as heritage minister /6

Here’s a link for each:

VCCI announcement: https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2019/06/minister-ng-announces-federal-venture-capital-investments-in-clean-technology.html
Nomination: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-liberals-nominate-anti-pipeline-activist-steven-guilbeault-to-take/
Election: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/liberal-environment-star-guilbeault-fights-off-bloc-in-laurier-sainte-marie
Cabinet: https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/trudeau-cabinet-list_ca_5dd5980ce4b0e29d727e1c8e

/7

The TPM piece says “Cycle Capital Management made the $20 million government funding announcement this February,” linking to a release about a *close* of CCM’s Fund IV, which release says “received a $20M participation from the federal government’s [VCCI], *announced in 2019*” /8

If TPM has evidence that Guilbeault was influencing decisions about federal government awards to venture capital funds-of-funds six months before joining cabinet, five months before being elected and a month before being nominated, it does not provide it /9

I’m telling you all of this because I’m not a fan of bad reporting, particularly on the subjects I cover. Also, the access of outlets like TPM to press galleries is topical, and I think there should be room in that discussion to consider good faith and standards /10

Also also, the TPM piece quotes @awudrick and @MikeBarrettON on the subject of whether it’s “findings” constitute an ethics violation. It’s been tweeted by folks like @PierrePoilievre, @jackmintz and @brianlilley. They should know that there may be problems with the story /11

Now, I happen to be a reporter who covers innovation policy in Ottawa—I get hung up on details like who got VCCI funding and when federal cabinet ministers were first elected. But a TPM editor fact-checking that piece could easily have Googled those same details /12

Trust me, I know it can be hard for new outlets to gain recognition and be taken seriously. But it’s possible to be new and have editorial standards /13

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