LeBlanc in conflict over surf clam licence

Canada’s federal ethics watchdog ruled Wednesday that Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc violated the conflict of interest act when he approved an Arctic surf clam licence to a company employing a family member.

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said in a report that LeBlanc knew his wife’s first cousin was involved in the Five Nations Clam Co. and would have benefited financially when he awarded the company a multi-million-dollar licence in February.

“If a public office holder is aware of a potential opportunity to further the private interests of a relative through the exercise of an official power, duty or function, the public office holder must be vigilant in avoiding such conflicts of interest.”

The decision comes less than two months after the government cancelled the decision and started the process over to award a fourth Arctic surf clam licence to encourage Indigenous participation.

Speaking to reporters in Saskatoon, where Liberal MPs are gathered for a caucus retreat, LeBlanc says he accepts Dion’s findings “without reservation.”

“Canadians expect when mistakes are made that people assume those mistakes and, more importantly, commit to doing better in the future and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

However, he also qualified that Dion’s ruling “confirms that no financial benefit was created in this circumstance and no preferential treatment was given.”

The deal to award a fourth fishing licence for Arctic surf clams would have ended a 19-year monopoly on the Arctic clam fishery held by Clearwater Seafoods and offered 25 per cent of the catch to local Indigenous communities.