One of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau鈥檚 closest friends is benefiting from an exclusive agreement between his data analytics company and the Liberal Party of Canada.
Data Sciences Inc, run by Trudeau鈥檚 boyhood friend, Tom Pitfield, is providing the party with 鈥渄igital engagement鈥� and support services for its powerful voter-contact database, Liberalist.
Neither the party nor Pitfield would say how much the agreement is worth to the firm, which Pitfield set up after his friend was elected party leader.
Pitfield鈥檚 wife, Anna Gainey, is the president of the Liberal Party and also a close friend of Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire. The two families vacationed together at the Aga Khan鈥檚 resort in Bahamas over the Christmas holidays.
A spokesman for the Liberal Party of Canada says Gainey does not get involved in decisions involving her husband鈥檚 company.
鈥淥ur Party President has, and continues to, recuse herself from all decisions pertaining to Data Sciences,鈥� Braeden Caley wrote in an email.
Two current Data Sciences Inc. employees are on the Liberal Party鈥檚 board of directors: Sébastien Fassier is the Liberal鈥檚 national vice president (French) and works as Data Sciences vice president of corporate services.
Mira Ahmad, sister of the prime minister鈥檚 press secretary Cameron Ahmad, sits on the board as president of the Young Liberals of Canada and works as Pitfield鈥檚 executive assistant at Data Sciences, according to a profile of her in Power & Influence magazine.
鈥淭he volunteers who serve on the National Board, and Party staff, take all appropriate steps to eliminate any conflict of interest,鈥� Caley said.
Pitfield denied that his party connections were a factor in his work with the Liberals.
鈥淒ata Sciences is a world leader in our field and our services are in high demand by organizations here in Canada and abroad -- that is why the Liberal party hired us,鈥� he wrote in an email.
Pitfield is also president of not-for-profit think tank Canada 2020, which regularly hosts policy conferences featuring cabinet ministers. The organization has received federal government funding in the past and raised concerns among Opposition parties about its close relationship with the Liberal leadership.
Canada 2020 threw a lavish party for Trudeau and his delegation in Washington, D.C. last spring, the night before he attended a state dinner at the White House.
CTV News has learned that the agreement with the party also sees Data Sciences Inc. providing technical support for Liberalist to provincial Liberal parties, as well as federal campaigns and riding associations.
Manitoba Liberal Party candidates were provided with access to the Liberalist software in the provincial election last year and told to contact Pitfield鈥檚 company for any support issues.
Caley wouldn鈥檛 say exactly what Data Sciences does for the party, other than provide 鈥渁 variety of services pertaining to innovative digital engagement, helping the party reach as many Canadians as possible online and in communities from coast to coast to coast.鈥�
Liberalist is a modified version of NGP VAN鈥檚 VoteBuilder software developed by Democrats in the U.S. and is widely credited with helping Barack Obama win the presidency in 2008.
The Democrats鈥� success with micro-targeting voters spawned numerous small analytics companies specializing in leveraging 鈥淏ig Data鈥� for U.S. political campaigns.
The Liberal party licensed NGP VAN鈥檚 software in 2011 and repackaged a modified version as Liberalist -- long before Pitfield began working as a chief digital strategist for Trudeau鈥檚 2014 leadership campaign. Elections Canada records show Pitfield was paid $28,750 by the Trudeau campaign, including expenses. He also worked on the 2015 general election campaign.
The value of the Data Sciences agreement with the Liberals is unknown, as federal political parties are not obligated to reveal how they spend money they raise from donors, even though donations to them are heavily subsidized with federal tax credits.
Over the past year, the company has hired several staff members who had recently worked for the Liberals.
In November, the Liberal鈥檚 director of data analytics, Sean Wiltshire, was named vice president at Data Sciences, and in March 2016, the party鈥檚 manager of campaign technologies support, Nadya Wilkinson, was hired by Data Sciences as a director of operations.
The party has an obligation to its donors to ensure its money is spent properly, says Prof. Arthur Schafer, founding director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba.
鈥淭he story, as it's developing, truly smacks of cronyism,鈥� Schafer told CTV.
鈥淥ne could almost be part of a medieval court, where the king and his courtiers are scratching each others' backs. I don鈥檛 think it passes the smell test."
The agreement is not the first time the Liberals have done business with Pitfield. During the 2015 election, the party rented office for a volunteer hub in a downtown Ottawa building now occupied by Canada 2020. The party paid more than $13,000 to use the space, at market rates, according to a Canadian Press report.
Data Sciences Inc. maintains a makeshift office in the same building on O鈥機onnor Street, above a deli restaurant. The building is also home to the Bluesky Strategy Group, a lobbying firm whose principals -- Tim Barber and Susan Smith -- founded Canada 2020 along with Pitfield.
