The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner can only investigate matters that fall within the Commissioner’s jurisdiction.
The person against whom a complaint is made must be subject to one or both of the regimes that the Commissioner administers: the Conflict of Interest Act for public office holders and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. The Act applies to ministers, parliamentary secretaries, ministerial staff and Governor-in-Council appointees. The Code applies to Members of Parliament (but not to their staff).
The subject-matter of the complaint must fall within the scope of the Act and/or the Code. Both regimes deal specifically with conflict of interest, with the focus largely on ensuring that Members and public office holders do not use their positions to further their private, largely financial, interests or the private interests of their relatives (and friends, in the case of the Act) or to improperly further the private interests of anyone else.
Whether or not the Commissioner decides to investigate a matter depends on these and other factors, including whether specific information about it has come to the Commissioner's attention.
