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 my mistake,” Ng told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Ethics on Feb. 10.
Federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said in December 2022 that Ng violated the Conflict of Interest Act because her office awarded a sole-sourced contract to Toronto-based public relations agency Pomp & Circumstance, the president of which, Amanda Alvaro, is Ng’s longtime friend….