It was the day before Canada Day last summer in London, England. Canada's High Commission was helping to host a special event -- the first ever "Canada Day in London."

The event included music and Mounties and street hockey -- in Trafalagar Square. It was funded, in part, with $130,000 of taxpayers' money.

What Canadians didn't know at the time was, the company hired to stage the event is run by the common-law partner of a key Embassy official.

That official is Gillian Licari, the Acting Head of the Cultural Relations Unit at Canada House in London. Her partner is John Denby, a director with a company called "Sound + Light Productions." At the time of the event, they were sharing a home in London.

Denby's company was paid approximately $100,000 to stage the one-day event. CTV's Whistleblower unit has obtained e-mails, written by Licari, which show she was directly involved in organizing that same event.

"I think in this case you're seeing a clear instance of ethics rules for government officials being breached," said Duff Conacher, of Democracy Watch.

Another record obtained by CTV indicates Licari also entertained Denby and others -- on the taxpayers' dime -- at a London restaurant in February. That was before his company got the contract. Licari's "Hospitality Diary," showing her signature, says the purpose of the "function" was: "To discuss planning for Canada Day."

"When you have the head of the division within the High Commission taking out her common-law partner who then is, later on, awarded a contract to his company to do a cultural event that the High Commission is organizing, then I believe you are showing clear breaches of ethical rules," said Conacher.

He's referring to Treasury Board rules, which govern the conduct of public servants and contracting out. Those rules say, first of all, that contracts of this nature must be put to tender -- asking for competitive bids -- if they are worth more than $25,000. The rules also say government contracts over $10,000 must be publicly disclosed. The "Canada Day in London" contract given to Sound and Light Productions was not.

The rules governing the conduct of all public servants state, in part: "When making decisions that will result in a financial award to an external party, public servants shall not grant preferential treatment or assistance to family or friends." The maximum penalty for breaching those rules is termination.

"I think it stinks," said John Williamson, of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "And I think a lot of taxpayers across this country are going to wonder what is going on in Ottawa or at Foreign Affairs that allow our tax dollars to be spent this way with such little oversight."

CTV called Gillian Licari several times -- at work -- to try to ask her about this. In one brief conversation, she referred us to the Public Affairs department at the High Commission. Subsequent calls were not returned. CTV's request to interview High Commissioner James Wright was declined.

The Foreign Affairs department in Ottawa responded by to CTV by saying, in part, that the government didn't award the Canada Day contract -- instead, an umbrella organization called "Canada Day in London" did. The department gave no information on who was responsible for that organization, or what guidelines they were supposed to follow while spending taxpayer's money.

The department also told CTV that "Ms. Licari's Hospitality Diary does not include" any reference to the Hospitality Diary document CTV has obtained, listing a "function" in February, with her partner, John Denby. "Hospitality Diaries" are official records of entertainment by High Commission officials that they expect will be billed to taxpayers. Officials such as Licari are responsible for keeping their own diaries.

Foreign Affairs also told us that, as far as they are concerned: "Spouses and common-law spouses are eligible for contracts as long as there is no reporting relationship between the spouses."

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