Ethics Commissioner (Canada)

The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada is a Canadian government institution. The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is an independent Officer of Canada's Parliament, who administers the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. These two regimes seek to prevent conflicts between the public duties and private interests of elected and appointed officials.

The position of Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner came into effect on July 9, 2007 with the coming into force of the Conflict of Interest Act. This act, in turn, was enacted as part of the Federal Accountability Act.

The current Commissioner is Mary Dawson. She was appointed under the Parliament of Canada Act on July 9, 2007, for a seven-year term, reappointed in July 2014 for a two-year term, and appointed in July 2016 on an interim basis for a six-month term, until January 8, 2017.

The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is an entity of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, the Senate and the Library of Parliament.

Unlike other officers or agents of Parliament whose offices are created by the legislation they administer, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is an Officer of Parliament whose mandate is set out in the Parliament of Canada Act.

The Commissioner produces two annual reports: one on the Office's activities under the Conflict of Interest Act and one on activities under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.

The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner provides its budget estimates to the Speaker of the House of Commons; they are reviewed by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, which has oversight of the Conflict of Interest Act. Information about the Office's resources is provided in its annual reports and annual financial statements, which are available on the Office's website.

The Conflict of Interest Act for public office holders (Ministers, Ministers of State, Parliamentary Secretaries, ministerial staff and Governor-in-Council appointees) and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons set out a number of obligations and prohibit various activities that involve conflicts between private and public interests, or have the potential to do so.

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