A national democracy advocacy organization is filing a complaint with the federal ethics commissioner’s office, alleging that former governor general David Johnston is violating the Conflict of Interest Act in carrying out his appointed role as special rapporteur on foreign election interference because of his previous connections to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family. The NGO Democracy…

The ethics commissioner has found that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith contravened a section of the Conflicts of Interest Act in her conversation with Minister of Justice Tyler Shandro, in relation to criminal charges faced by Calgary street pastor Artur Pawlowski following a speech he gave at the Coutts border protest in 2022. However, the report…

The federal Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner cannot currently initiate investigations or issue reports on possible ethics breaches by public servants because it has no acting commissioner, a House of Commons committee heard on May 12. Representatives from the office told the Commons Standing Committee on Ethics that a future commissioner could…

A Conservative MP is questioning whether Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc recused himself prior to cabinet voting in favour of appointing his sister-in-law as the interim federal ethics commissioner. “The supposed recusal of confirmed ethics lawbreaking Minister from the decision to appoint his sister in-law as the ethics commissioner was made AFTER the decision to appoint…

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he wasn’t involved in the decision to appoint his sister-in-law as the interim ethics commissioner amid criticism from opposition parties that cabinet showed unethical favouritism in choosing her for the role. “In order to avoid any opportunity to provide preferential treatment or to further the private interest of my relative,…

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 31 defended the appointment of Martine Richard to the role of interim ethics commissioner, amid conflict-of-interest concerns over her being the sister-in-law of Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc. “If there is any office in the country that understands how to manage conflicts of interests and ethical perceptions and issues,…

Recent ethical lapses by government MPs renew questions of how to ensure such actions cease amid the examples set at the highest level of leadership and the trend toward declining standards of behaviour. Ethical missteps by parliamentarians is nothing new. In 1998, the Reform Party hired a mariachi band to play in the Senate foyer…

Federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion announced on Feb. 14 he is leaving his post and going into retirement due to “persistent health issues.” Dion made the announcement on the same day he published his report on Liberal MP Greg Fergus, who he found in breach of the Conflict of Interest Act. “It is my hope…

International Trade Minister Mary Ng says she believed that the sole-sourced contracts her office awarded to a friend in 2020 were in compliance with federal conflict of interest laws and that none of her staff ever raised concerns that the contracts might be unethical. “I believed that we were acting in full compliance and that was…

International Trade Minister Mary Ng has pledged through signing a “conflict of interest screen” to never again award a sole-sourced contract to her longtime-friend Amanda Alvaro, the president of a Toronto-based public relations agency. In December 2022, federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said Ng violated the Conflict of Interest Act when her office awarded sole-sourced contracts to Alvaro’s agency, Pomp &…