Thank you, Monsieur Thériault.
If you're saying that officials who take care to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest will necessarily also avoid being in an actual conflict of interest, I would agree with that.
If I've understood you correctly, I also think it's important for public officials—and I'm sure the Ethics Commissioner would say this for MPs and ministers—whenever they think there might be an appearance of a conflict of interest in a situation but they're not sure, to proactively ask the commissioner for their thoughts beforehand, and not simply do something and then find a retroactive adverse judgment. Certainly, a proactive discussion, which includes concerns about appearances as opposed to real conflicts of interest, is important.