What would you conclude from this exchange today at the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics?
Liberal MP Scott Andrews: Have you looked into recent events between the Minister of Defence (Peter MacKay) and the chair of a public Crown corporation board boing to a luxury fishing lodge for a vacation? Has that been brought to your attention? Have you looked at maybe investigating whether this was a breach of ethics?
Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson: I've only see press reports about it.
Andrews: So you yourself wouldn't initiate an investigation as such? It would have have to have been brought to your attention through a requests?
Dawson: And there would have to be reasonable grounds of a specified provision that was contravened. Yes.
Andrews: Well, let me ask you this: Did you see any potential of a minister of the Crown going to a luxury fishing lodge of a member of a Crown Corporation board?
Dawson: Yes. There could be contraventions in those areas.
So what do you think? [You can watch it online here. This exchange comes at 31:43] I, and at least two other reporters, concluded that Dawson had just given poor Peter MacKay another headache, that Dawson believed there was a chance that that trip put him offside with conflict of interest rules.
So I asked Dawson's office to clarify or elaborate what she meant and here's what spokesperson Jocelyne Brisebois sent over:
“There is nothing to elaborate on. The Commissioner was responding to a hypothetical question. She has not commented on Minister MacKay's situation.”
I think she did comment on MacKay's situation. You?
Looks like the ethics cmtte is going to be real busy for the next few years. That is why I've always preferred a minority gov't. Weather Con or Lib you give a gov't a majority in this country and there is no real accountability, ie John Baird and his gold embossed cards. Fiscal responsibility, I think not.