Peter MacKay fined for ethics violation

Defence Minister Peter MacKay has been hit with a $200 fine for violating Canada’s Conflict of Interest Act, making him the only member of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet to have violated the law twice.

In a notice quietly posted to her website, conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson says that MacKay violated paragraph 22 (2) of the act by “failing to report a description of all assets and an estimate of their value” in his filings to her office. The $200 fine was paid Nov. 9.

Dawson’s office refused to provide more detail about the infraction.

In a statement posted to his website, however, MacKay said the fine was the result of an oversight on his part.

“I’d like to advise you that there was an inadvertant omission made in a past disclosure to the ethics commissioner concerning my RSPs,” MacKay wrote Nov. 8. “The ethics commissioner was made aware of this omission because it was included in material I sent to her this year. As soon as the ethics commissioner notified me of this omission I acted to ensure the matter was resolved quickly. I accept responsibility for the omission and I now consider the matter closed.”

This is the second time MacKay has been fined by the ethics commissioner. In 2009, he was also hit with a $200 fine for failing to disclose a position as a director of a company.

In May, fellow cabinet member Lynne Yelich, minister of state for Western diversification, was slapped with a $100 fine for “failure to disclose a material change relating to assets within 30 days.”

In March, Diane Ablonczy, who was minister of state for seniors at the time, was fined $100 for violating the same provision of the act.

MacKay has been under fire in recent weeks for having a military helicopter pick him up at a remote fishing camp in Newfoundland and the discrepancy between his account and the e-mail account of how the flight came about. He has also come under fire for staying in pricey hotel rooms on at least one international trip.

Liberal defence critic John McKay said he was disappointed, but not terribly surprised by MacKay’s newest ethics violation.

“He seems to have a bit of a loose grip on what is ethical behavior when you are a minister of the Crown and a member of the Privy Council,” McKay said.

The NDP declined to comment.

Original Article
Source: iPolitico