Information & Ethics committee  Looking only to the Canadian experience with which I'm more familiar, Mr. Chair, there really are three sets of options. There's an administrative monetary penalty regime. As I said, it's newer but it's increasingly common in Canadian jurisdictions for this sort of infraction.

Information & Ethics committee  The interpretation as described by the member is true. That's how the act is interpreted and now stands. It's not entirely inconsistent with the history of the position of public office holders, like ministers and parliamentary secretaries. It does recognize the fact that the peo

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you. The CBA's position, under both the Lobbying Act and the Conflict of Interest Act, is that post-employment restrictions should be harmonized for the reason the member alluded to, so there's greater understanding and clarity administered by a single person. That said, a

Information & Ethics committee  Chair, one of our recommendations addresses this very directly. The situation described by the member actually arises under the code. The CBA has no position on the code. We do have a position on the act. Our position on the act includes a recommendation that every prohibition

Information & Ethics committee  Well, one of the existing rules in the Conflict of Interest Act is the rule which provides that when a complaint is made by a member of the House of Commons, the member should not disclose that information to anyone except the commissioner. That is one of the 25 prohibitions for

Information & Ethics committee  Under the act as currently drafted, no.

Information & Ethics committee  However, it is fair to say, and this is already dealt with in our submission and within certain sections of the act, that when we enter into a monetary penalty regime, that is, where people are subject to potential penalties for breaching the law, they're entitled to procedural f

Information & Ethics committee  Sure. To be clear, the commissioner has proposed moving away from the current act. It's the CBA that actually.... We're not trying to enlarge the act here. We're actually trying to keep the act more the way it is in this respect. The difference of opinion relates to the differe

Information & Ethics committee  We're only talking, Chair, about boards where the appointments are made by the cabinet, or made by a minister and confirmed by cabinet, and, if our recommendation is adopted, extending it to people like the Governor of the Bank of Canada, namely, the people appointed by other bod

Information & Ethics committee  I think, Chair, there are several requirements for the enforcement and upholding of laws. Some of them we haven't addressed specifically in our brief, but they are certainly historic CBA positions. We've talked about resources. Those who enforce the laws must have the resources.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, $25,000 is borrowed from two provincial statutes which relate to lobbying. The administrative monetary penalty regime is fairly new. The alternative—and public office holders can choose this—is prosecution and imprisonment. Ordinary people who break the law go before a ju

Information & Ethics committee  Let me see if I can take the member's last question first, Chair, and then go to his first question. Part of the rule of law is that the administration of justice is open and transparent. When ordinary people break the law, subject to publication bans covering young offenders an

Information & Ethics committee  Right now, section 19 of the act says: Compliance with this Act is a condition of a person’s appointment or employment as a public office holder. We know that right now, under the few sections, the 13 of 44 rules for which there can be penalties, there are breaches. In the la

Information & Ethics committee  Right now the rules are clear. The current rule is that if you're a reporting public office holder, you are subject to automatic divestment. Divestment is defined as selling or putting in a blind trust. That's very clear. Our recommendations would maintain that clarity and main

Information & Ethics committee  We begin with the rule of law, and this is a very important point. Chair, the member's question allows me to underscore this. Parliament chooses which laws it makes and which laws it doesn't. In this case Parliament has chosen to create 44 rules and to put them in statutes. They'