(Ottawa) The appointment of the minister’s sister-in-law Dominic LeBlanc to the post of interim conflict of interest and ethics commissioner does not pass the test of independence, denounces the official opposition.
The Trudeau government appointed earlier this week to this post, on an interim basis, Martine Richard, who is the sister of the wife of the minister Dominic LeBlanc. In the Conservative benches, the appointment was decried for its partisan nature.
“Liberals laugh at us. I imagine they were tired of being found guilty. This is the true nature of Liberals, ”MP Michael Barrett hammered home Wednesday in the House of Commons, then listing the Liberal ministers who have broken the Conflict of Interest Act.
“We are dealing with a Cabinet of serial offenders, and now they have an insider accomplice in the Office of the Ethics Commissioner. How can Canadians trust the Agents of Parliament if the Liberals are hopping the dice? “, he thundered.
The Leader of the Liberal Government in the House of Commons, Mark Holland, came to the defense of the selection of Ms. Richard, arguing that she had been employed by the commissioner’s office for 10 years, and that she had been named there under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper.
“Questioning his credibility, attacking him in this way and continuing to spread these types of conspiracy theories are things that we often see on the Reddit platform. I’m not convinced these things are appropriate in this place,” he fired back.
The post of commissioner has been vacant since the departure of Mario Dion on February 21 for health reasons. He had been in the saddle for five years.