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, it is that office, which has always done exceptional work at ensuring the confidence of Canadians,” Trudeau told reporters during a press conference in Moncton, N.B.
The prime minister said that Richard had been a senior official in the ethics commissioner’s office for over a decade, having first been hired under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. He added that there are “already measures in place to ensure that the work is done professionally and without conflicts [of interest] given the connections.”…