Angry in the Great White North

From the CBC bio for David Smith, prepared during the June 2004 federal election:

He has more than 15 of years experience in organizational management, human resources, property management, and management of multidisciplinary complex projects. He works as a business manager with Public Works and Government Services Canada. He was previously director of strategic development for Jaguar Solutions and executive director with AGM [sic] Informatique. He was also manager of Ameublement Branchard for six years.

David Smith built bridges between Jaguar and ASM. From the Jaguar Solutions website:

Jaguar Solutions has a close business relationship with ASM Informatique inc., an IT company which is specialized in custom accounting and management software products. As they say:

"ASM's business mission is to offer managers custom designed software products truly built to help them take the best possible decisions. Our structure allows us to offer a fast and personalized service to the client where our dynamic team really stands out. We are also proud to be ISO 9001:2000 certified."

[Note: this page has suddenly disappeared from the web. Convenient. I've linked here to the Google cache of the French version of the page. The text is the same.]

So what sort of work has Jaguar done? Mostly work with fire management systems for the federal government. Actually, that's the only work they've listed:

Jaguar Solutions Clients
Government of Canada

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (www.ainc-inac.gc.ca)
We have been managing the "Fire Management System" for the Yukon territory since 1995.

Parks Canada (www.parcscanada.gc.ca)
We have been managing the "Parks Fire Information System" Intranet since 1995.

Provincial Government

Manitoba Conservation (www.gov.mb.ca/natres)
We have been managing the "National Fire Information System" since 1995.

Forgot to mention this one, for the Government of the Northwest Territories:

RWED PM000102 Jaguar Solutions Gatineau INTERNET BASED FIRE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PM000102 $35,000.00
RWED PM000103 Jaguar Solutions Gatineau XFMS MAINTENANCE PM000103 $5,000.00

RWED is the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

So between Indian Affairs for the Yukon and the work with the Northwest Territories, Jaguar seems to have plenty of work with Aboriginal concerns via the federal government. Moreover, despite being listed under "provincial government", the work for the National Fire Information Service is actually managed by the Canadian Forest Service, which is also a federal department. Though it is located in Manitoba, the work was done by IDYSIS of Quebec until 1995, when Jaguar of Quebec took over.

[Yeah, work is done in Manitoba, but all the money flows to Quebec. That's Canada for you.]

I can't ascertain if David Smith was working for Jaguar in 1995 when Jaguar landed that work.

As I noted, AGM should really read ASM. Here is the listing for ASM Informatique from 2002:

ASM Informatique inc.
Monsieur David Smith
100, Principale Sud, suite 241
Maniwaki (Quebec)
J9E 3L4
Tel: 819.449.4159
Fax : 819.449.4728
Courriel : asm@ireseau.com

David Smith, as already noted in the CBC bio, was the head guy.

Does ASM do work for First Nations? You betcha:

ASM INFORMATIQUE INC. is specialized in the conception of accounting and management software, which is personalised to the needs of the customer while respecting all of the laws and procedures in the art of management. We offer training on all of our products in our training institutions or at the customers place of business. Our products are used in different sizes of organisations, local, national and international. We are also certified by the international norm ISO9001:2000. ASM IINFORMATIQUE INC mission is to deliver to our customers services and products corresponding to there needs which in return gives them the such needed tools for important decision making in real time on the spot and at the lowest cost possible. Our enterprise structure assures a direct and continues participation of its management and allows the personnel to offer personalised and rapid interventions with our customers.

Business Focus: Applications, Consultancy, Support, Third party tools, Training
Year Founded: 1988
No. of employees: 9

We have applications for;
Accounting (complete), payroll, inventory management, etc.
Reservation (Hotel, fish and game, camping, sports centre, etc)
Transport (local and long distance)
Forestry (sawmill management, transport, etc)
Municipal ( govern small to medium size)
Sales and Service (snowmobile and bike centre, Computer hardware retail, POS, wholesale, etc)
First Nations management applications.

So David Smith maintains his links with Jaguar and ASM, which are closely linked to each other.

They both seem to make a good living off of federal contracts, especially those intersecting aboriginal concerns and territories.

Then he splits off to work out of his home for Abotech, a company with no apparent employees or facilities, landing hundreds of thousands in government public works contracts dedicated to aboriginal companies.

Here's my theory. Abotech is a front for non-aboriginal companies like Jaguar. The government hires "aboriginal" company Abotech to do the work and thus meets its own goal for supporting aboriginal companies. But Abotech is a shell, and after David Smith takes his cut, he passes the work off to Jaguar or to ASM, which are legit, though non-aboriginal, computer firms.

Neither Jaguar nor ASM are listed in the Aboriginal Business Directory, though Abotech is.

It works because David Smith is a status aboriginal:

The Aboriginal Peoples’ Commission (APC) congratulate Mr. Todd Russell for his election on May 24th as the newest Liberal member of Parliament representing the riding of Labrador. Mr. Russell, who is of Inuit ancestry, will join fellow Aboriginal Liberals Hon. Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Minister of Northern Development, Ms. Nancy Karetak-Lindell, MP Nunavut, Mr. Paul Devillers, MP Simcoe North, and Mr. David Smith, MP Pontiac in caucus.

Is David Smith the president of Abotech? Maybe not. Doesn't matter. The job doesn't require any actual skills, just contacts, and he's already established them. All he did was make his people at Jaguar or ASM or whomever know to deal with his wife, and the contracts and money keep flowing through.

Just a theory, mind you. If it's true, though, doesn't that make David Smith a lobbyist of sorts? Working for businesses that cut him a slice of the action instead of for his constituents.

Here's hoping the truth is less sordid than this.

[This post was made possible with a lot of help from readers and bloggers who left all sorts of interesting comments that allowed me to focus my search. Cheers all!]

Index of Abotech posts:

Another Liberal scandal brewing
Abotech Scandal Update
Abotech Scandal Update #2: MP David Smith's six-figure company is run out of his home
Hiding behind the Ethics Commissioner
Abotech Scandal Update #3: Now Abotech is an aerospace company?
Abotech Scandal Update #4: The nature of the work performed -- "Other"
Liberals: David Smith might have done something wrong. Really!
David Smith, Jaguar Solutions, ASM Informatique, and Government Contracts
David Smith, Jaguar Solutions, ASM Informatique -- close, literally
The press confirms David Smith works out of his home
Could David Smith's kids be running Abotech?
David Smith, Abotech, and Nursing
The Abotech Affair: The Link between Indian Affairs and Public Works
Abotech: One competitive contract awarded
Major developments in the Abotech affair (and a major correction)
David Smith is as aboriginal as my Polish grandmother
David Smith's extended Liberal Party bio
On the question of who manages Abotech and subcontractors
The Smith-Brazeau connection -- Deeper than I ever imagined