Anti-conflict rules don’t cover Morneau’s wife

OT TAWA • The federal ethics commissioner has imposed rules on Finance Minister Bill Morneau to keep his family’s business from conflicting with his public duties.

Mar y Dawson says Morneau’s chief of staff must enforce a “screen” intended to prevent from him from participating in any decisions or discussions involving Morneau Shepell, the firm founded by his father.

But Dawson didn’t apply any other special rules on Morneau related to the personal holdings of his wife, Nancy, who is a member of New Brunswick’s powerful McCain family.

Last week it emerged that Dawson had put a similar ethics screen on Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc to distance him from J. D. Irving Ltd., part of the Irving conglomerate run by his friend and family scion, Jim Irving. The Irvings have large interests in energy, shipbuilding, pulp and paper and media.

No such screen will keep Morneau from dealing with his wife’s family business, the global food company McCain. The firm has lobbied the Finance department on foreign trade agreements in the past but is not currently lobbying.

The conflict- of- interest disclosure Morneau filed lists as assets his ownership of several numbered corporations in Ontario and Alberta as well as a promi ssory note of an undisclosed amount from a trust fund called the Morneau McCain Trust.

Morneau, 53, also reported that he is a potential beneficiary of another trust, the Nancy McCain 2013 Family Trust. Dawson ordered him to not use any proceeds from this trust for political purposes, such as “a nomination contest, a leadership contest or an electoral campaign,” the disclosure statement says.

But there is no sign that Dawson stopped Morneau from continuing to hold private investments while he manages the nation’s economy. In the disclosure, he lists “dividend and interest income from investments” as sources of income he expects in the coming year.

Which investments this refers to is not explained.

The National Post reported in October that when Morneau had stepped down from his management position with Morneau Shepell after the federal election, he held about $ 30- million worth of shares in the publicly-traded company.

Morneau has been working closely with Dawson since he was sworn in and is in full compliance with the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, spokesman Daniel Lauzon said in an email.

In his last full year on the job as executive chair of Shepell, Morneau earned $ 1,071,859, including a base salary of $ 450,000 plus a bonus and share- based awards, regulatory filings showed.

Morneau is believed to be the wealthiest cabinet minister since former finance minister Paul Martin, who transferred ownership of his international shipping company, Canada Steamship Lines, to his three sons before he became prime minister.

The numbered companies Morneau listed on his declaration are jointly owned with four siblings, and all appear to own or have owned condominium units and other property in Florida.

Morneau also owns a villa in Oppède, in the Provence region of the south of France.