A Conservative MP is questioning whether Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc recused himself prior to cabinet voting in favour of appointing his sister-in-law as the interim federal ethics commissioner.
“The supposed recusal of confirmed ethics lawbreaking Minister from the decision to appoint his sister in-law as the ethics commissioner was made AFTER the decision to appoint her?” Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett wrote on Twitter on April 6.
“Who investigates? Does the new commissioner just ask him about it at Easter brunch?”
Barrett was referencing a report by Blacklock’s Reporter published the same day citing a Commons ethics committee filing and Privy Council Office (PCO) record suggesting that LeBlanc did not recuse himself prior to cabinet’s vote to select his sister-in-law Martine Richard as interim ethics commissioner.
LeBlanc told the Commons Standing Committee on Ethics in a filing that he recused himself on March 28 from “all discussions, decisions, debates or votes relating to her appointment.”
However, the PCO indicates on its website in a list of orders in council that Richard was appointed by a cabinet vote on March 27—the day before LeBlanc says he recused himself.
Mario Dion, who served as the federal ethics watchdog for five years before stepping away from the role in February for health reasons, also questioned whether LeBlanc recused himself from the cabinet vote before it happened.
“How do you recuse the day after the Order in Council was approved by the GG [Governor General]?” Dion wrote on Twitter on April 5.
Ethics Office
During his time as ethics commissioner, Dion found LeBlanc had broken federal conflict-of-interest rules when he awarded an Arctic surf clam licence to a company linked to his wife’s cousin in 2018.Dion also found Trudeau in violation of ethics rules, along with International Trade Minister Mary Ng and other Liberal MPs.
Before leaving his post as ethics commissioner, he recommended that the Liberal government consider a mandate ordering all federal ministers and parliamentary secretaries to receive training about the Conflict of Interest Act.
Richard will serve as the interim conflict of interest watchdog for the next six months while her office searches for a new candidate to permanently take on the role of ethics commissioner.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended cabinet’s appointment of Richard to the interim position, saying that she has been a senior official in the ethics commissioner’s office for over 10 years and was first hired under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
Meanwhile, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has taken aim at cabinet’s choice of Richard.“We’ve got almost 40 million people in Canada. Are you telling me we can’t find a single one that’s not either a ski buddy of the prime minister or a sister-in-law of one of his ministers?” Poilievre said to reporters on March 31.
The Canadian Press and Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.
