Thank you.
Evidence of meeting #69 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was gifts.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #69 for Procedure and House Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was gifts.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
In many cases, the complaints are not founded.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
I just had one question relating to what my colleague Mr. Richards was saying.
You say in the event of a role at an event, that essentially serves as your demonstration that it was not a gift. Many of us are invited to an event, and the role we have is simply that they ask us to come and bring greetings from the Government of Canada.
Is that sufficient in your mind to qualify as a role in the event, or is it insufficient? That is a very frequent occurrence.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
That's probably in your riding.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
Normally it is, not always; it may be in a surrounding riding. There was a time when I was the only—
Conservative
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski Conservative Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK
On a point of order, Mr. Chair, it's obviously up to the will of the committee, but since we're only a few steps away from the House of Commons, if you want to stay for another 10 minutes or so, certainly from our side we're willing to do so. But it depends on what the committee wants.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Mr. Reid is the last one in this round. Should we finish this or do another round after?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
Thank you.
Mr. Reid, go ahead.
And I thank you for your help, Mr. Lukiwski.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
It's in your riding, but it can be sometimes in the region, or it could be because—this would happen frequently not to me but to other people—you are the only member of Parliament who is a member of a certain ethnic group, or for that kind of reason.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Yes, and that would normally be fine. We're not silly about this, but you have to have some kind of a function.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
That's helpful, because it now becomes a nice, clear.... We like red lines. It's like playing tennis—the ball is in or it's out. You might wish the line were a little farther this way. But the point is that I know it was in or out.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
The thing to do is to give us a quick call, and we'll give you a quick answer.
Conservative
Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON
That's true.
Seeing I have the floor here, that I send stuff to your office all the time, and you, or whoever you have assigned to me, are very good at getting back to me in a timely fashion, I appreciate that.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
I thank you all.
There was a conversation on recommendation 23 about codes of conduct. I know the Commonwealth is currently going through it, but could you get back to us if you know of any other government entity that has what you're looking for here, rather than our reinventing the wheel?
Director, Policy, Research and Communications, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
If I could just add quickly, my understanding is that the U.K. has something in place.
Director, Policy, Research and Communications, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
We'll certainly look into that. It's based on the Nolan principles of good governance. We can look into that and get back to the committee. Absolutely.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
That would be helpful, rather than our taking that recommendation from scratch.
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
We'll send what we think will be useful to you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Joe Preston
We won't say it was enforced, but there was one there, yes.
I thank you all for coming today and helping us get started with this.
The meeting is adjourned.
