Minister Says He Wasn’t Involved in Appointment of Sister-in-Law as Interim Ethics Commissioner

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc in a file photo. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he wasn’t involved in the decision to appoint his sister-in-law as the interim ethics commissioner amid criticism from opposition parties that cabinet showed unethical favouritism in choosing her for the role.

“In order to avoid any opportunity to provide preferential treatment or to further the private interest of my relative, Ms. Martine Richard, I recused myself on March 28 from all discussions, decisions, debates or votes relating to her appointment as interim Ethics Commissioner,” LeBlanc said in a filing with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Ethics, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Richard, who has worked in the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner for 10 years, was named the new ethics watchdog for the next six months as her office searches for someone to permanently take the place of outgoing ethics commissioner Mario Dion.

Since Richard is LeBlanc’s sister-in-law, the ethics office has said she will have a screen in place for her entire tenure to shield her from becoming aware of any situations that could place her in a potential conflict of interest.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended Richard’s appointment as the interim ethics watchdog despite criticism from opposition parties.

“If there is any office in the country that understands how to manage conflicts of interests and ethical perceptions and issues, it is that office, which has always done exceptional work at ensuring the confidence of Canadians,” Trudeau said on March 31.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has questioned whether the Liberal government’s appointment of Richard is an attempt to skirt more potential ethics-violation findings from the conflict-of-interest office over the next six months.

The office previously found LeBlanc guilty of breaking federal ethics rules when he awarded an Arctic surf clam licence to a company linked to his wife’s cousin.

“Mr. LeBlanc of course was found guilty, just like his boss, Justin Trudeau, of violating the ethics law, and [Trudeau’s] solution to make sure he’s not found guilty again is to name his sister-in-law,” Poilievre told reporters on March 31.

Ethics Violations

During Dion’s five years as ethics commissioner, he found Trudeau and several other cabinet members in violation of ethics rules.

More recently, Dion found that both International Trade Minister Mary Ng and Liberal MP Greg Fergus had individually violated the Conflict of Interest Act.

After Fergus’s breach, Dion advised the government to “consider mandating all ministers and parliamentary secretaries to receive training” about federal ethics rules to prevent further violations.

Dion added that his office had offered training on the subject to all parties, but had still continued to see a “succession of mistakes” that he were “largely attributable to the inability to recognize the need to seek consultation.”

The Canadian Press and Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.