Federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion announced on Feb. 14 he is leaving his post and going into retirement due to “persistent health issues.”
Dion made the announcement on the same day he published his report on Liberal MP Greg Fergus, who he found in breach of the Conflict of Interest Act.
“It is my hope that I have contributed in some measure to transparency and accountability in support of Canadian democracy,” Dion said in a
statement, indicating he will be stepping down on Feb. 21 after 43 years of public service.
Along with the Conflict of Interest Act, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner also administers the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.
The Conflict of Interest Act applies to public office holders such as ministers, ministerial staff, cabinet appointees, and heads of Crown corporations.
Dion commended the seriousness shown by regulatees and said their willingness to seek learning opportunities and cooperate with the Office “confirms my belief that the vast majority are honest people who want to do the right thing.”
Dion struck a more critical tone when issuing his report on MP Fergus,
saying that over his tenure he has seen on several occasions “senior officials being unaware of their obligations and mistakenly making assumptions.”
The commissioner recommended that the government make his office’s training mandatory, since “we continue to see a succession of mistakes that are largely attributable to the inability to recognize the need to seek consultation.”
On the Fergus case, Dion said he was “quite concerned” that someone with his experience “would fail to recognize the possibility of a contravention.”
Fergus is parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and to the president of the Treasury Board, and sits on the Commons ethics and House affairs committees.
His breach relates to writing a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to support the application of Natyf Inc. for a broadcasting licence. The attempt to “improperly further” Natyf’s interests breached the Conflict of Interest Act, Dion said.
“I recognize and apologize for my unintentional error in providing the letter of support to a francophone specialty channel that reflects Black and multi-ethnic communities across Canada,” Fergus said in a Feb. 14
statement.
He added he would redouble his efforts to meet his obligations under the act and work with the Office to do so.
Dion found other Liberal government ministers in breach over his tenure, including Dominic
Leblanc in 2018, Justin
Trudeau in 2019, Bill
Morneau in 2021, and more recently Mary
Ng in December 2022.
