Evidence of meeting #57 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was investigations.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
—provision in my act.
Conservative
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
So once you're done, July 8, essentially you walk away.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
I'm no longer—
Conservative
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
—authorized to deal with it.
Conservative
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
Okay. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I thought you were mouthing the word “free”.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
I'm trying to finish them.
Conservative
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
“Finish” was maybe where you were heading.
What I'm trying to get at is that we now have a Prime Minister who is under investigation who will be appointing a new person—or yourself—who would then be investigating the Prime Minister who appointed him.
I'd hoped there was a bit of a transition period so you could finish it up, but it appears there's not.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Well, the only thing then is an interim appointment again, I guess, to finish them up. I don't know when a new person will be identified, either. I don't have any idea how the process is proceeding.
Conservative
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
Are you hoping, then, for a bit of an interim transition period?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Well, let me put it this way: I'm willing to complete those files.
Conservative
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
You're willing to do it, yes. Well that would be fair, considering that the Prime Minister is under investigation and he appoints the person.
Okay, I'll switch gears; I have about a minute left.
You talked about the number of media requests you're getting, and you've spoken through the media about the difference and the struggle between the mandates the Prime Minister has put in place and coinciding them with the act. Essentially, the Prime Minister stands up in the House of Commons and says that he has rules for cabinet, but they are not necessarily reflected in the act.
Is that something you're hoping to bring together before you leave?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
I don't have the power to do that. Those rules are simply Prime Minister's rules. They were Mr. Harper's rules as well, and the Prime Minister has changed them slightly.
Conservative
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
Just to clarify, they were not to the extent we're seeing right now. There seem to be new rules daily that have been put in place by this Prime Minister, so....
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
No, most of them are the same. There are a few additional ones.
Conservative
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
We're talking about the accountability guide, are we?
Conservative
Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB
Yes, we're talking about the stuff that he's put in his mandate letters to his ministers.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Oh, his mandate letters; I'm sorry. No, I don't know about these.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Blaine Calkins
Thank you very much, Mr. Jeneroux.
We now move on to Monsieur Dubourg, for five minutes.
Liberal
Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would first like to say hello to Ms. Dawson and her companion, Ms. Tremblay.
Thank you for joining us and for answering our questions.
You said that you conduct investigations. Budget-wise, you say that you sometimes also travel.
Could you please tell us under what circumstances your employees are asked to travel to carry out an investigation?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
It happens very rarely. I had to go to Toronto once for an investigation. That said, we can usually do that kind of work here, in Ottawa.
Liberal
Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC
Okay.
Previous questions allowed us to see how well you are managing the budget. There is always a fairly substantial amount in reserve, which you give back at the end of the year.
What could you improve in your organization—for example, when it comes to the web—to make the system more user-friendly or to ensure better adherence to rules by people?
Are there any areas that can be further improved?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Yes. We focused a lot on those issues and we are always making improvements. I cannot list all of them. My companion could talk about them a bit.