I think there are some activities that could be violations of the existing Conflict of Interest Act which could also be violations of the Criminal Code. If they are that serious in nature, then they may be something the commissioner should simply refer to the police for investigation.
Again, I am hesitant to recommend making the Conflict of Interest Act more criminal or quasi-criminal in nature. I think the best work that can be done in fostering an ethical environment in the exercise of public power is to be more supportive rather than punitive.
One of the buzzwords in regulatory administration these days is “ethical infrastructure”. Whether it's in law firms or accounting firms, or I would say in public office as well, it's about creating structures to foster ethical decision-making and the ethical exercise of power. I think that involves things like giving the commissioner more resources to be able to do more educational work, to spend time personally with public office holders, to issue opinions or interpretative bulletins on what constitutes a conflict of interest under section 9 of the act, again, to give notice to public office holders and to members of the public as to how the act is going to be interpreted and how to avoid getting into difficulties under the act.
I know the commissioner does that already, but in my mind expanding those works of the commissioner under the act is the way to go rather than expanding the punitive nature of the act.