Mr. Speaker, yesterday the environment minister denied that Nick Mulder, whom he appointed chair of the environmental review panel for a Hamilton area expressway, is in a conflict of interest. Mr. Mulder is a registered lobbyist for Environment Canada, DFO, and the agency for the panel of which he is the chair.
Under law the minister has an obligation to appoint only panel members who are unbiased and free from any conflict of interest. The ethics commissioner and Ontario's attorney general are now investigating Mr. Mulder. Why will the minister not remove Mr. Mulder from this review panel?