(OTTAWA) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defends the appointment of his minister’s sister-in-law Dominic LeBlanc as interim Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, noting that her work in the office dates back to the years in power of the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper.

Martine Richard, who has worked at the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada as a lawyer since 2013, was appointed for a six-month term this week.

“The Acting Commissioner has worked at the highest levels within the Office of the Ethics Commissioner for over 10 years. […] She did a great job under former commissioner (Mario) Dion and actually replaced him a couple of times when he was on sick leave and dealing with health issues.” , Mr. Trudeau said Friday at a press briefing in Moncton, New Brunswick.

At his side, the member of this Atlantic province and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. LeBlanc, clarified that he had recused himself when the Prime Minister had raised the issue during cabinet discussions.

“I did not participate in this (selection) process at all,” he further argued, saying he had nothing more to add.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada indicated Thursday that, since Ms. Richard has been employed by this office, a provision has been made so that everything relating to her brother-in-law is never brought to his attention.

On Friday, Mr. Trudeau said that “if there is one office that understands how to manage ethical conflicts or the appearance of conflicts, it is this office.”

Ms. Richard became commissioner on Monday under a section of the Parliament of Canada Act that allows the government to “appoint any competent person to act for a term not exceeding six months.”

All of the main opposition parties disapprove of the appointment.

And the fact that the Liberals insist that Ms. Richard’s integration into the office team dates back to the years of the Harper government does not change that. On Thursday, the House leader of the government, Mark Holland, had served this argument, as well as Mr. Trudeau.

The Conservatives, who had launched the ball of criticism in question period earlier this week, stayed the course on Friday.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he sees choosing Mr. LeBlanc’s sister-in-law as an ethics watchdog as a way for the Liberals to ensure “we can discuss every case around the table.” supper” without worrying.

According to Mr. Poilievre, the Prime Minister must have told himself that he “enjoys appointing members of (his) (Liberal) family and (his) friends as independent officers”. As he said that last word, he mimed quotation marks in the air.

“Are we going to exhaust the list […] for those positions? “, he continued.

The Conservatives, like the Bloc, believe in particular that the special rapporteur on foreign interference, David Johnston, is too close to the Liberals and Justin Trudeau.

The Bloc Québécois also got involved during Friday’s question period. Its ethics spokesperson, René Villemure, called on the government to back down.

“The appearance of conflicts of interest is obvious. Even though they don’t seem to know what a conflict of interest is, we’re asking the Liberals to reconsider this appointment,” he said.

For Mr. Villemure, there is no doubt that the case of Ms. Richard “adds to an endless list of breaches of ethics”.

The New Democrats are also calling for the revocation of the appointment of Minister LeBlanc’s sister-in-law, their deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice said in an interview.

“Where we are concerned is the appearance of a conflict of interest. Even if she is objective, neutral and does a job that is not biased, if she investigates a Liberal MP or minister, there will always be doubts that she can be complacent,” he said. -he says.

In his opinion, the system put in place in 2013 to screen out any possible conflict of interest of Ms. Richard is not sufficient. He believes that the latter is, in appearance, close to the whole liberal family.

“You can’t have any doubts with the ethics commissioner,” he said.

Mr LeBlanc was convicted of breaching conflict of interest rules in 2018 for approving a lucrative fishing license for a business run by a family member while he was fisheries minister.

Mr. Trudeau has also been blamed by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada on several occasions, including for his stay on the Aga Khan’s private island.