Mr. Speaker, the response from the Privy Council Office is as follows. With regard to (a), under section 21 of the Conflict of Interest Act, COIA, public office holders, including ministers and their staff, are required to recuse themselves from any discussion, decision, debate or vote on any matter in respect of which they would be in a conflict of interest. Under section 25 of the act, reporting public office holders, including ministers and full-time members of their staff, must make a public declaration of any recusal they have made to avoid a conflict of interest within 60 days after the day on which the recusal took place. This public declaration must include sufficient detail to identify the conflict of interest that was avoided.
With regard to (b), the conflict of interest standards applicable to ministers, parliamentary secretaries, ministerial staff, and appointees of the Governor in Council are set out in the Conflict of Interest Act. Section 4 of the COIA defines a conflict of interest as any situation in which a public office holder exercises an official power, duty, or function that provides an opportunity to further his or her private interests or those of his or her relatives or friends, or to improperly further another person’s private interests. The act requires public office holders to arrange their private affairs in a manner that will prevent the public office holder from being in a conflict of interest. Public office holders are also barred from making a decision or participating in making a decision related to the exercise of an official power, duty, or function if they know or reasonably should know that in the making of the decision, they would be in a conflict of interest. Section 11 of the act prohibits public office holders and their family members from accepting any gift or other advantage that might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the public office holder in the exercise of an official power, duty, or function. Furthermore, reporting public office holders are prohibited from engaging in outside activities and holding controlled assets, regardless of whether those activities or assets would place the public office holder in an actual conflict of interest.
The COIA is interpreted and administered by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, an independent officer of Parliament. In her January 30, 2013, submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, the commissioner indicated that, in her view, the concepts of “apparent” and “potential” conflicts of interest are included in the current definition of conflict of interest set out in section 4 of the COIA, and are appropriately reflected in the other provisions of the act. The commissioner stated in her submission that she had not identified any provision in the act where the express inclusion of “apparent” or “potential” conflicts of interest would appear to be necessary.
Beyond the statutory requirements of the COIA, the Prime Minister has set out expectations for the conduct of ministers and other public office holders in “Open and Accountable Government”, a guide for his ministry. This includes the ethical guidelines set out in Annex A, which state that public office holders have an obligation to perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny, an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law. It also includes the guidelines in Annex B on fundraising and dealing with lobbyists, which require ministers and parliamentary secretaries to maintain appropriate boundaries between their political fundraising activities and their dealings with lobbyists and other departmental stakeholders. As stated in these guidelines, ministers and parliamentary secretaries must avoid conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict of interest, and situations that have the potential to involve conflicts of interest. Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for their adherence to these guidelines.
With regard to (c), the COIA is interpreted and administered by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. This includes administration of the public and confidential reporting requirements for reporting public office holders. After consultation with the commissioner, public office holders may adopt agreed compliance measures, such as the use of “ethical screens” to avoid having matters come before them in areas of potential conflict. Information about such measures is published in the online registry maintained by the commissioner. The commissioner is also mandated to investigate and report on possible breaches of the act, and impose administrative monetary penalties for breaches of the act’s reporting requirements.
Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for meeting the expectations for their conduct set out in “Open and Accountable Government”.
With regard to (d), the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has indicated that the standards of “apparent” and “potential” conflicts of interest are already included in the definition of conflict of interest set out in section 4 of the COIA, and are appropriately reflected in the other provisions of the act.