Ethics watchdog investigating Morneau for conflict of interest

Finance minister under fire for tabling reforms that may allegedly benefit family firm

OTTAWA— The federal ethics watchdog has launched a formal investigation to determine if Finance Minister Bill Morneau was in violation of the Conflict of Interest Act when he tabled the pension reform bill. CBC and CTV reported that Mary Dawson’s office has opened an “examination” under the act into Morneau’s involvement in introducing Bill C-27 in October 2016.

The NDP wrote a formal complaint last month to Dawson, alleging Morneau’s bill could benefit his former pension management company, Morneau Shepell, after news broke the finance minister had retained about a million shares in that company after his election.

Dawson had advised the finance minister in 2015 the law didn’t re- quire him to put the shares in a blind trust or to sell them because he held them in a numbered corporation.

A spokesperson for Morneau said in a written statement emailed to the Star that since his first day in office, Morneau has worked with the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner “and followed her recommendations and advice, including having a screen in place that was determined to be the ‘best measure of compliance’ by the commissioner.

“In this spirit, the minister will an- swer any questions the Commissioner has on this matter,” said Chloé Luciani-Girouard.

Dawson’s view was that equalled indirect control of the stocks, and wasn’t covered by law. She advised Morneau that he should set up an ethics “screen” — his chief of staff was to keep him out of discussions that could directly affect Morneau Shepell’s interests. Dawson’s office told Morneau the screen did not apply to discussions about laws of “general application.”

Morneau has defended his actions in tabling Bill C-27, saying the bill was in the interest of all Canadians, and not directed at one company.

Morneau Shepell has said it severed ties with Morneau after he resigned as executive chairman, the kind of work the bill would create is a fraction of its business and would benefit the pension-administration market in Canada overall. But under intense pressure, Morneau moved to put his and his family’s remaining shares into a blind trust while he sold them.