In my opening remarks, I referred to Democracy Watch v. Canada (Attorney General), a case that was heard by the Federal Court of Appeal in 2018 in which the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was granted standing. Here's what I found interesting about the court's decision. I'll read an excerpt in English, because that's the language it was written in. At the end of his decision, the judge said:
“the publication of conflict of interest screens may well end up providing more information to the public than the publication of recusals.”
What seems to be emerging from this decision is interesting. The measures in place, and the list of companies listed in schedule A, are already very transparent, much more, in fact, than the usual measures used for elected officials.