NEWS RELEASE
Ottawa, June 13, 2024
The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner advised elected and appointed officials on conflict of interest issues over 3,600 times last fiscal year. It received 8% more requests for advice from public office holders and 31% more from Members of the House of Commons than the five-year average.
Details of these and other activities are in the Office's latest annual reports under the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. They were tabled in Parliament today and posted online:
The reports show how the Commissioner's Office carried out its mandate in key areas like giving advice, conducting educational sessions and outreach, supporting transparency, and addressing non-compliance.
The Office continued to focus on prevention and solution finding. Educating elected and appointed officials about their obligations was key to this effort.
In 2023-2024, the Office reached over 300 public office holders through 24 educational sessions.
The Office gave one-on-one training to the five new Members elected during the fiscal year. It also developed a bilingual, accessible, and mobile-friendly online course about the Code. The course will be available on the House of Commons intranet after it launches in 2024-2025.
The Office also addressed non-compliance as needed. As of March 31, 2024, it was working on two investigation reports under the Act. It did not issue any investigation reports in 2023-2024.
Quotes from Commissioner von Finckenstein
“I believe Canada needs the best minds in public office. I also recognize that qualified, experienced people will have potential conflicts of interest. Our role is to help them avoid and manage conflicts from the time they enter public office until they leave it and beyond."
“We assign each reporting public office holder and Member of the House of Commons an advisor who gives them timely, consistent and personalized advice. By helping elected and appointed officials follow the rules and avoid conflicts of interest, the Commissioner's Office ultimately helps safeguard Canadians' trust in public institutions."
Quick facts
The Conflict of Interest Act applies to over 2,950 individuals. They include:
about 1,500 public office holders without reporting obligations, such as part-time members of federal boards, commissions and tribunals, and some part-time ministerial staff;
some 1,450 reporting public office holders, such as ministers and parliamentary secretaries, ministerial staff, and individuals appointed to full-time positions by the Governor in Council (the Governor General acting on the advice of Cabinet).
The Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons applies to all 338 elected Members of Parliament. Members who are ministers or parliamentary secretaries are also subject to the Conflict of Interest Act.
In March 2023, the House of Commons added a mandatory training requirement to section 32 of the Code.
The Office maintains a searchable public registry. It contains all the information about elected and appointed officials that the Commissioner is authorized to make public. There were over 120,000 visits to the public registry in 2023-2024, up significantly from previous years.
Quarterly statistical reports contain data on various activity areas.
Financial reports and annual financial statements are published on the website.
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For more information, please call 613-995-0721 or email us.
