Evidence of meeting #47 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was screen.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
Did she assign it to someone else, or was she involved?
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
I'm sorry, but I am not disclosing to you the people who work in my office so that you can call them out as having made mistakes or not.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
I think it is a matter of [Inaudible—Editor].
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
I'm responsible for the advice that's given by my office. I take responsibility for it.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
It is concerning that we have the sister-in-law to Minister LeBlanc, a senior minister in this government, with responsibility for investigations, who would have been involved with or at least had the whole issue surrounding Minister Champagne coming across her desk in relation to the very specific issues raised by Mr. Barrett in his letter of April 7, 2026.
I will move on, because my time is limited.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB
You stated that there was no conflict because it was remote and it was a matter of a general application.
I would challenge you on that insofar as Minister Champagne's spouse is an executive at Alto. Alto is a Crown corporation that exists solely to build the Alto high-speed rail line. That's its raison d'être. That's why it exists.
Mr. Champagne, on February 26, didn't just vote on any general matter touching upon the budgetary process or the budget implementation act that happened to touch upon Alto. He voted against a very specific motion that would have specifically removed the High-Speed Rail Network Act from the BIA, which would have killed the advancement of the project going to the heart of Alto, of which Minister Champagne's spouse is a VP.
I would put it to you that it's not remote. I would put it to you that it's not of a general application. I would put it to you that there is a very direct link between that vote—that decision—and the private interests of the minister's spouse.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
I'll take that as a comment because you're out of time, Mr. Cooper.
Mr. Casey, you have five minutes. Go ahead, please.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
I have Mr. Chang or Mr. Casey here second.
Mr. Al Soud, go ahead. You have five minutes.
Liberal
Fares Al Soud Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Commissioner, for being with us today.
My first question, Commissioner, is this: Did the minister voluntarily approach your office for guidance?
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Liberal
Fares Al Soud Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
That's fantastic.
Is it unusual for a minister to implement safeguards beyond those recommended by your office? How often does that happen?
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
It's relatively rare, but we've had requests like that.
Liberal
Fares Al Soud Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
Do you concur that the minister has gone above and beyond his requirements as it pertains to the Conflict of Interest Act?
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
We told him quite clearly that there was no conflict of interest. He felt, out of an abundance of caution—as he testified to you—that it would be useful for him. He wrote to the Prime Minister and copied me.
Liberal
Fares Al Soud Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
Commissioner, could you explain your role under the Conflict of Interest Act and how allegations of conflict are typically assessed?
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
They can come from members of the public, another minister or an MP. What happens is that people write to me and say, “Here is the following situation: We think there is a conflict of interest and you should investigate.” We get quite a few of those. We look at them, and we try to apply the test set out in the act. Is there any evidence, or is there anything that could reasonably amount to a conflict of interest? If so, and if we decide we can investigate, we investigate.
First of all, we write to the person and say, “These allegations have been made. Can I have your opinion?” We get a response from the person. On that basis, we decide whether the response is good enough. If we decide that it doesn't satisfy us—if there is still a reasonable doubt that something is amiss—we have the ability to start an inquiry. We have the full power of the court to ask the person to come and satisfy us under oath, and they produce documents, etc. Then we issue a report.
Liberal
Fares Al Soud Liberal Mississauga Centre, ON
I understand the scope might be quite large, but what factors are typically used to assess whether there is a conflict of interest?
Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
You look at the act and whether the various factors are satisfied. Did an action of a minister promote their private interest? Did it promote the private interest of their relatives or friends? Did they improperly do something for a third party?
The key is “improperly”. It isn't about their normal actions. Did they go outside normal actions to do something improperly?
