Canada's Ethics Commissioner has launched an investigation into possible conflict of interest violations committed by Finance Minister Bill Morneau in the decision to award a government contract to the WE Charity, the Office said in a statement on Thursday
TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) Canada's Ethics Commissioner has launched an investigation into possible conflict of interest violations committed by Finance Minister Bill Morneau in the decision to award a government contract to the WE Charity, the Office said in a statement on Thursday.
Several parliamentarians called for a conflict of interest probe into the finance minister after it was revealed that the minister did not recuse himself from a controversial decision to award a contract to the charity despite family ties to the organization.
"Following requests from several parliamentarians, Ethics Commissioner [Mario] Dion will examine the Hon. Bill Morneau under [the Conflict of Interest Act]... and has so informed him," the office said via Twitter.
Section 21 of the Conflict of Interest Act states that a "public office holder shall recuse himself or herself from any discussion, decision, debate or vote on any matter in respect of which he or she would be in a conflict of interest."
The statement said that a full report will be released once the investigation is complete that any conflict of interest or ethics violation probes take approximately seven months to complete.
Morneau has apologized for not recusing himself from the decision-making process but highlighted that the decision to award the contract was recommended by the public service.
Trudeau and Morneau, have incurred backlash after multiple investigative pieces revealed close ties between their families and the WE Charity, which was awarded a $670-million sole-source contract to administer a government-sponsored student volunteer program.
Morneau was thrust into the controversy after an investigation by independent media outlet Canadaland revealed that Morneau's adopted daughter Grace Acan is an employee at the charity, while another daughter, Clare, has had prior speaking engagements.
The office of the minister has said that Acan's employment at the charity has "absolutely no link with any work the charity has done with the Government of Canada." The office added that Clare Morneau was not compensated for her speaking engagements.
Morneau has previously been the subject of two conflict of interest investigations by the Ethics Commissioner. In 2017, Morneau was fined by the ethics commissioner's office for failing to disclose private, non-commercial real estate in France, according to reports. And in 2018, the ethics watchdog cleared the finance minister of conflict of interest after introducing a pension bill, while his family still owned shares of the company that was to administrate the new legislation.
