Conservatives concerned over interim ethics commissioner's connection to Liberal cabinet minister

The Conservatives are raising concerns over the appointment of Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc's sister-in-law as the interim federal conflict of interest and ethics commissioner.

On Tuesday, just after many Parliament Hill reporters entered the federal budget lockup, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's office tweeted that Martine Richard was named as interim commissioner for a period of six months while "an open, transparent and merit-based selection process" gets underway to name the next permanent ethics watchdog.

The next day during question period, Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett raised the appointment, asking the government to confirm that Richard was not the same person who is the sister of LeBlanc's wife.

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In response, Government House Leader Mark Holland defended the pick, calling Richard a "career public servant" who has worked in the ethics commissioner's office for more than a decade. He noted that Richard joined the commissioner's office when former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper was in office.

"It makes absolute and complete logical sense that she would be acting on an interim capacity," Holland said, adding that there's an "ethical screen" in place "to ensure no such conflict occurs."

This didn't satisfy Barrett who replied: "the Liberals have got to be kidding,” and suggested the federal government now have an “inside man” in the top ethics oversight role. The Commissioner is an independent officer of Parliament.

"How can Canadians have confidence in the officers of Parliament if these guys are stacking the deck?" Barrett asked.

Holland panned Barrett’s questioning of her credibility stating that "continuing with those kinds of conspiracy theories" would be better done "on Reddit" than in the House of Commons.

Concerns over this interim appointment were first reported by The Hill Times, who in 2019 reported that when Richard was senior legal counsel at the ethics commissioner's office, she had to recuse herself from involvement in at least two investigations into Liberal ethics issues due to a perceived conflict of interest.

Richard is filling in after former commissioner Mario Dion retired in February due to health issues. Over his five years in the role, Dion found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as members of his cabinet and caucus in contravention of federal ethics laws on several occasions. On his way out he told CTV News Power Play's Vassy Kapelos that there's an "accountability loop" in the current ethics system.

LeBlanc was one of the members of Trudeau's cabinet that Dion found breached conflict of interest rules, in connection to granting an Arctic surf clam licence to a company that employed a family member during his time as fisheries minister. 

In his 2022 year-end interview with CTV National News, on the heels of the latest confirmed ethics breach within his cabinet by Mary Ng, Trudeau said that while "it sucks" when such cases of improper conduct arise, the fact the public knows about them is a sign the system is working.