QUESTION PERIOD — Prime Minister’s Office
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
April 9, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.
Senator Harder, on a couple of occasions in the month of March while answering questions during QP here in the Senate chamber — on one occasion, March 20; and on a second occasion, March 21 — you responded by saying it was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who referred the question of the SNC‑Lavalin scandal to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner in the House of Commons. That, of course, is false. We all know that it was two members of the House of Commons, Charlie Angus and Nathan Cullen, who referred the question of political interference in the criminal process known as the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
Would you take this opportunity, government leader, to set the record straight in this chamber and to confirm that it was not Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who called for an inquiry by the Ethics Commissioner?
Absolutely. What I think is absolutely important, and to which I will continue to underscore, is this: The Prime Minister committed himself and his government to full cooperation with the Ethics Commissioner.
Well, it’s good to see that the Prime Minister is committed to a clear and transparent process with the Ethics Officer because as soon as they started hearing testimony they didn’t like at the Justice Committee, they shut that down.
Senator Harder, the closed-door investigation by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner in regards to the SNC-Lavalin scandal is the only investigation of which we’re aware that your government is facing right now. The thing is, the Commissioner himself is away on medical leave. Now we know, thanks to a story by Tom Korski with Blacklock’s Reporter, that the Acting Director of Investigations is the sister-in-law of none other than Liberal cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc — the same Dominic LeBlanc, colleagues, who was himself found guilty of breaching the code relating to a contract awarded last year to another family member. Boy, I guess it’s good to be a member of that family. I guess, a small comfort there, colleagues.
Senator Harder, how can Canadians take this investigation seriously and, for that matter, at this point, how can Canadians take this government seriously?
Let me seek to assure all senators that the government has complete respect for the independence of agents of Parliament. As the honourable senator would know, they are independent officers. Their offices themselves are independent. All questions related to employees in the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner should be referred to the Commissioner’s office. The Commissioner’s office itself has addressed these questions publicly:
The office can confirm that a potential conflict was identified in 2013 between Martine Richard, senior general counsel in our office, and the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc. At that time, appropriate measures were put in place to shield Ms. Richard from any involvement in matters relating to Minister LeBlanc.
I think it’s important for us on this side to respect the independence and the integrity with which agents of Parliament conduct their work and engage their staff.
