Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak with you about the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's budgetary submission for 2024-25.
As you will have noticed, I am accompanied today by Ms. Sandy Tremblay, director of corporate management, and Ms. Melanie Rushworth, director of communications.
First of all, I would like to thank you and all your fellow members for voting in favour of my permanent appointment. I very much appreciate the vote of confidence.
The commissioner's office consists of around 50 professionals who are doing everything possible to ensure that the 3,200 people subject to the Conflict of Interest Act or the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons avoid conflicts of interest.
I see the office as having a twofold purpose: one, to help public officials avoid and manage their conflicts of interest, and two, to facilitate the movement of qualified people in and out of the public service. These principles reflect my approach to the role of commissioner. Ultimately, the goal is to safeguard public confidence in the integrity of elected and appointed officials.
All experienced and competent people will, over time, be exposed to potential conflicts of interest. To me, this means the credibility of the advice and guidance provided needs to be both helpful, innovative and timely. Accordingly, you will see a change in our educational offerings throughout this year.
Reflected in the main estimates request is an alignment of funding to ensure the continued growth of the educational and outreach functions of the office. This will allow us to develop more tailored or subject-specific opportunities to meet the needs of those subject to either regime. These approaches will be online, in person and on demand. In the near future, an online course specifically tailored to meet the needs of elected members under the code will be launched.
Reflecting our efficient approach, the budget for this year reflects an increase of just under 3%, which will be used mainly to offset some cost increases.
Melanie, Sandy and I would be happy to answer any questions you have about our office, our finances or our operations.
Thank you.