Canada’s First Conflict of Interest and Ethic Commissioner, Mary Dawson, Dies

Mary Dawson waits to appear before the House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics committee, in Ottawa, on Jan. 10, 2018. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Former conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson has died.

The commissioner’s office posted a statement on its website on Jan. 5 announcing it is saddened to learn of Ms. Dawson’s death on Dec.24.

Ms. Dawson was nominated to the role in 2007 by former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and she served until 2018.

Before that she had a lengthy career as a federal bureaucrat, including as the associate deputy minister of the Justice Department.

During her tenure at that department she helped draft major pieces of legislation including the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Canada Health Act and the Official Languages Act.

During her time as ethics commissioner Ms. Dawson made many rulings, but among her last was her explosive report that found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated conflict of interest rules by accepting a vacation on the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas in 2016.

The statement from the ethics commissioner’s office says Ms. Dawson’s legal expertise “laid the foundations for the way the conflict of interest regimes are administered.”