(OTTAWA) After his appointment as Ottawa’s temporary guardian of ethics outraged the opposition, Minister LeBlanc’s sister-in-law, Martine Richard, decided to step down from the post.
“On behalf of the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, I inform you that effective today, April 19, 2023, Martine Richard has notified the Privy Council Office (PCO) that she ‘will no longer perform his duties as acting commissioner,’ a statement said.
The sister of Minister LeBlanc’s wife will continue to hold the position of senior general counsel, it was specified in this statement attributed to the director of communications of the commissioner’s office, Melanie Rushworth.
Due to the vacancy, “there are decisions that the Office of the Commissioner cannot act on because of the functions that only an individual occupying the position of Commissioner can perform. under the laws, she added.
The appointment of Mr.me Richard, at the end of March, had been shot down in flames by the opposition.
“One can almost imagine the conversation between the Liberal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, who was found guilty of violating the Conflict of Interest Actand the Prime Minister, who violated the Law twice,” joked Chef Pierre Poilievre during question period on March 30.
“They’re like, ‘How can we stop being convicted? I know ! By appointing my sister-in-law ethics commissioner! What a plan! It’s concrete!” . The problem is that soon they will run out of friends and family,” he quipped.
The nomination process for the next Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was launched on March 28, 2023 by the Privy Council Office.
The post of commissioner has been vacant since the departure of Mario Dion on February 21 for health reasons. Appointed by the Trudeau government, he had been in the saddle as an independent agent of Parliament for five years.
While in office, he tapped the knuckles of several Liberal cabinet ministers, including Justin Trudeau himself, whom he harshly blamed in 2019 for inappropriately pressuring Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould in the SNC-Lavalin affair.
Also singled out were Minister Mary Ng, who awarded contracts to the public relations firm of her friend Amanda Alvaro, and Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who placed himself in a conflict of interest situation by approving a fishing permit. to a company that employed a cousin of his wife.