Conflict rules violated – again
No financial penalties for politicians who breach the act
OTTAWA — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s violation of federal conflictof-interest and accountability rules is the latest in a series of government manoeuvres that breached guidelines and blurred the lines between the roles and responsibilities of MPs’ and ministers’ offices.
Flaherty now calls the incident “regrettable,” but his case also highlights the lack of penalties for politicians and other public office holders who break the federal Conflict of Interest Act. There are no financial penalties for “substantive contraventions” of the act, according to the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
Federal ethics commissioner Mary Dawson has ruled that Flaherty, in his capacity as minister of finance and minister responsible for the Greater Toronto Area, broke the rules by sending a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission supporting the licence application of Durham Radio Inc., a company based in his Whitby-Oshawa riding.
Dawson has repeatedly reminded ministers, including in multiple re- ports last year, of their responsibility to “not use their positions as ministers to provide greater assistance to their constituents than to other Canadians in relation to their own department or larger portfolio.”
The commissioner’s ruling came the same week questions were raised over possible ethical breaches and abuse of power by International Development Minister Julian Fantino, after two letters written by him — and critical of opposition parties — were posted on CIDA’s taxpayer-funded website.
Last year, she ruled that cabinet minister Christian Paradis violated the conflict-of-interest rules in his previous role as public works minister for “providing special treatment,” when he arranged a meeting with department officials for former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer.
In 2011, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney faced a firestorm of criticism, and a staff member of his resigned, for using parliamentary letterhead to raise money for the Conservative Party.
The series of incidents demonstrate the fine line cabinet members face — and continue to cross — in their responsibilities as a minister, individual MP and member of a political party. The continued breaches have opposition parties demanding Prime Minister Stephen Harper hold his ministers to account.
In a rare compliance order from the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Dawson said it was “improper” for Flaherty, as minister, to have written the March 2012 letter on behalf of a constituent to an administrative tribunal such as the CRTC.
There are still questions about the lack of financial penalties facing politicians who breach the Conflict of Interest Act.
The maximum administrative monetary penalty of $500 is only applied for failing to meet reporting deadlines or provide complete information, according to the commissioner’s office. When a penalty is applied, it “is intended to encourage compliance rather than to punish,” explains a summary of the monetary penalties regime.