Integrity commissioner calls for tougher conflict-of-interest law
Jacques Poitras | CBC News | Posted: June 12, 2017 9:30 AM | Last Updated: June 12, 2017
N.B. legislation should apply to apparent conflicts, not just actual ones, Alexandre Deschênes says
New Brunswick's integrity commissioner says the conflict-of-interest law for politicians should be toughened to clarify cases such as cabinet minister Victor Boudreau's former investment in a proposed campground near Parlee Beach.
Alexandre Deschênes said earlier this year that Boudreau's stake in the project did not put him in a conflict of interest but that the appearance of a conflict was "inevitable."
Unlike other conflict-of-interest laws, "our act does not apply to an apparent conflict of interest," he said in an interview with CBC News. "It's not in there."
Previous commissioners suggested law
Boudreau recused himself from Parlee Beach issues anyway, even though he didn't technically have to. The law said ministers aren't in a conflict if decisions that affect their private interests also apply to the general public.
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"Mr. Boudreau could have gone on and said, 'I'm the minister of health and I'm going to make decisions that apply to the general public and the act allows it,'" Deschênes said.
"If you'd had the words 'apparent conflict of interest' [in the law] it would have been clear."
Deschênes pointed out two of his predecessors as conflict-of-interest commissioner, Pat Ryan and Stuart Stratton, recommended expanding the act to include the appearance of conflicts.
"It started out way back," he said. "We're looking at almost a decade here where the suggestion has been made that apparent conflict of interest ought to be included in the act. It's not been done.
"But as a commissioner, I will be following what they've been doing and I will be recommending it when I file a report."
Updated conflict act
The Gallant Liberals passed amendments to update the Members Conflict of Interest Act during the spring session of the legislature, but they did not include a ban on perceived conflicts.
Progressive Conservative MLA Brian MacDonald has also called for the Liberals to fix what he calls "a gap in the law."
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Deschênes was appointed the province's integrity commissioner last year. The new role incorporates the role of conflict-of-interest watchdog and registrar of lobbyists, and in September it will also include the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Deschênes's first act as commissioner was to deal with Boudreau's 20 per cent investment in Shediac Campground Ltd., a proposed 700-site facility that has generated local opposition.
As health minister, Boudreau oversees the public health offices, and his department was part of a working group looking at how to deal with fecal contamination at Parlee Beach. One option the group looked at was a moratorium on new development near the beach.
That would have affected the proposed campground.
I told him, and he made it public, that the appearance of conflict in this case was absolutely inevitable. He couldn't get around it. It was there. - Alexandre Deschênes
The law bans ministers from making decisions that affect their "private interest," but it makes an exception if the decision applies to the broader public, even if the minister would still benefit.
Deschênes said in his letter to Boudreau in March that "one could argue" a decision on a moratorium would affect the broader public.
"Under the act, he might have been entitled to continue to have discussions that applied to the general population, even though he was part of [the project] at that point," Deschênes said in an interview last week.
"I told him, and he made it public, that the appearance of conflict in this case was absolutely inevitable. He couldn't get around it. It was there."
An MP's perceived conflict matters
The federal conflict of interest code for MPs also includes an exception for decisions that affect the general public, but it includes an explicit reference to perceived conflicts.
Boudreau put his investment in a blind trust in 2014, which meant he had no role in the running of the business. But the value of his stake would have been affected by a moratorium on future development.
He said in March he learned of the potential moratorium Feb. 28 and met with Deschênes March 2, the first date they could arrange it.
"That perception is the issue," Boudreau said at the time. "And if the perception is the issue, and the perception is what's going to be prevent us from getting to the bottom of it, then I'm prepared to recuse myself from all activities relating to this committee."
Last month he announced that he was giving up his investment in the campground altogether.
Deschênes said he believes most ministers and MLAs would do the same thing if he told them there was an apparent, but not actual, conflict.
"In most cases I think they will listen and they will do what has to be done to put an end to an apparent conflict of interest, although technically they could continue to do what they want to do."