By Canadian Press

Federal procurement minister wishes Irving hadn’t threatened reporters

May 30, 2019 | 9:34 AM

OTTAWA — Canada’s federal procurement minister says she wishes the Irving company and its lawyers hadn’t threatened to sue reporters who were asking questions about the company’s federal shipbuilding contracts.

But Public Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough stopped short of saying whether the company’s actions are appropriate or whether the government would take any action beyond reviewing its policies around the divulging the names of journalists.

Twice in recent months, federal officials have forwarded media questions, the names of reporters and other information to Irving after being asked for information about the company’s activities.

The Globe and Mail says a lawyer for Irving contacted the paper Wednesday after it asked the government whether the company had invested in an Alberta French fry plant to fulfil its re-investment obligations under a naval shipbuilding contract.

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Postmedia reporter David Pugliese says Irving also called him in March after Pugliese contacted the federal government for information about alleged welding problems on one of the ships that Irving is building for the navy.

In both cases, the Globe and Pugliese say they were pre-emptively warned that Irving would launch a lawsuit if the resulting story contained false information about the company or allegations of misconduct.

The Canadian Press