Federal ethics laws have 'clear deficiency' that needs to be changed: interim commissioner

Konrad von Finckenstein, then chairman of the CRTC, in 2011.

OTTAWA – The new interim federal Ethics commissioner says there is a “clear deficiency” in federal ethics laws which effectively stalled his office’s work and hurt its reputation as it was left without a leader for the last six months.

“The Act is deficient in not providing a provision of what happens when a commissioner’s term is expired or is incapable or whatever. There should be a delegation principle,” new interim Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein told MPs on the Ethics committee Monday.

“That’s a clear deficiency.”

Von Finckenstein was appointed interim ethics commissioner on Aug. 31 after the office was without a top official since mid-April after the successive resignations of Mario Dion and then his interim replacement Martine Richard weeks later.

In April, National Post reported that the vacuum at the head of the office meant that it could not fulfil several key parts of it mandate.

Most notably, only a commissioner can decide to launch an investigation into a possible ethics breach if the commissioner has “reason to believe that a public office holder or former public office holder has contravened” the law.

That limitation is nonsensical and should be changed so that the commissioner can delegate their power to another member of their team if they leave office for any amount of time, the interim ethics czar said.

Von Finckenstein told MPs it was too early for him to suggest other changes to the Conflict of Ethics Act or Code, but he noted that the six months without an ethics commissioner appeared to have damaged some people’s trust in the office.

“Some of your colleagues have mentioned a perceived lack of trust as of right now because of the six months hiatus and I’m hopeful I can resolve it and that they feel that the system is functioning and that issues that have cropped up have been dealt with in a timely manner,” he said to NDP MP Matthew Green.

The commissioner said his office currently has eight probes open involving 11 individuals into possible breaches of federal ethics laws. He did not detail who those individuals were or if the case files included full-fledged investigations.

There have been a number of controversies that have rocked the Liberal government and the Ethics commissioner’s office since Mario Dion prematurely retired from the post on Feb. 28.

The government initially promoted Martin Richard, a senior lawyer within the commissioner’s office, as interim commissioner in late March. But she resigned weeks later after opposition parties noted that Liberal Minister Dominic Leblanc, who was previously found guilty of an ethics breach, was her brother-in-law.

In the meantime, Radio-Canada revealed that Prime Minister Justice Trudeau and his family vacationed in December at a luxury estate in Jamaica owned by wealthy family friends who made a large donation to the Trudeau Foundation, the non-profit foundation tied to the prime minister’s family.

Conservatives said at the time they wished for the ethics commissioner’s office to investigate the trip.

The Post also reported that the Liberals quietly cut the next commissioner’s salary by $110,000, leaving experts concerned it would make it more difficult to find a former judge or tribunal member to take on the job as required by law.

Von Finckenstein said he was first approached to take on the interim job in late April and said he was interested at the time, but warned the government he would be leaving shortly on a 40-day cruise with his wife.

“We came back at the end of June and I received a call to verify if I was still ready to take the job. I said yes and about one week later, it was done,” he added.

He said he is prepared to take on the job for six months and no one has mentioned an extension to him.

Von Finckenstein was also asked to address speculation by some that the government has struggled to find a new permanent commissioner because the eligibility criteria is too stringent.

He disagreed, but noted that the role is increasingly scrutinized and that could be scaring off potential applicants.

“The political aspect naturally, if you make a decision here, it has political implications, it has reputational implications. We live in the age of social media and everything is always exaggerated, so we have to be very aware of what we say. Its easy to say something completely legal and correct that is perceived incorrectly. I suspect that is a reason some may hesitate to apply for the job,” he told MPs.

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