NDP files ethics complaint against Christian Paradis
Report suggests Minister of Industry may have used his influence to favour father’s associate
In a letter, Caron called for an inquiry into this troubling story. “It is essential that public office holders like Minister Christian Paradis maintain a neutral position and guard against favouring their friends,” he wrote.
An investigation by the newspaper Le Devoir shows that Minister Paradis approached colleagues in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office about moving the Rimouski employment insurance centre to his riding in a building owned by an associate of his family, Ghislain Dionne. Dionne and Paradis’ father are partners in the Paradis-Dionne law firm. Christian Paradis was a partner himself before running for office.
Caron wrote that these actions contravene articles 4, 6(1), 7 and 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act. The Act stipulates that “a public office holder is in a conflict of interest when he or she exercises an official power, duty or function that provides an opportunity to further his or her private interests or those of his or her relatives or friends.”
“While the Conflicts of Interest Act doesn’t prevent public office holders from speaking in favour of their own riding, it does prevent them from furthering the interests of relatives or friends, which seems to be the case here,” Caron wrote in his letter to the Ethics Commissioner.
Mary Dawson
Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner
Parliament of Canada
66 Slater Street, 22nd floor
Ottawa, Ontario
Dear Ms. Dawson,
I am writing to you about a possible conflict of interest on the part of the Minister of Industry, Christian Paradis.
An investigation by La Presse shows that Christian Paradis approached colleagues in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office about moving the Rimouski employment insurance centre to his own riding—in premises owned by an associate of his family.
The new processing centre would be located in Thetford Mines, in a building owned by the company 9183-0497 Quebec Inc., whose main shareholder is lawyer and businessman Ghislain Dionne. Dionne and Christian Paradis’ father are partners in the Paradis-Dionne law firm.
Minister Paradis even boasted about approaching his colleagues to assist the town in his riding. “I made representations to the minister [Diane Finley]. We have a nice centre that is well situated and we received positive recommendations from the Department. We showed that we have a quality centre, with quality staff. It’s wonderful news for the region,” he said.
While the Conflict of Interest Act doesn’t prevent public office holders to speak in favour of their own riding, it does prevent them from favouring the interest of a parent or friend, which seems to be the case here.
I believe these actions contravene articles 4, 6(1), 7 and 9 of the Conflict of Interest Act and that Dionne can be considered a friend of Christian Paradis. This is what the law says:
Conflict of interest
4. For the purposes of this Act, a public office holder is in a conflict of interest when he or she exercises an official power, duty or function that provides an opportunity to further his or her private interests or those of his or her relatives or friends or to improperly further another person’s private interests.Decision-making
6. (1) No public office holder shall make a decision or participate in making a decision related to the exercise of an official power, duty or function if the public office holder knows or reasonably should know that, in the making of the decision, he or she would be in a conflict of interest.Preferential treatment
7. No public office holder shall, in the exercise of an official power, duty or function, give preferential treatment to any person or organization based on the identity of the person or organization that represents the first-mentioned person or organization.Influence
9. No public office holder shall use his or her position as a public office holder to seek to influence a decision of another person so as to further the public office holder’s private interests or those of the public office holder’s relatives or friends or to improperly further another person’s private interests.
It is essential that public office holders like Christian Paradis maintain a neutral position and guard against favouring their friends. I believe that if these allegations are proven to be true, favouring a business belonging to a friend compromises the ability of the minister to act as a representative of the public good.
I believe it is within your mandate to verify these allegations and I ask you to open an inquiry on the subject of possible contraventions of the Conflict of Interest Act.
With kind regards,
Guy Caron
MP for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques
Official Opposition Critic for Industry
New Democratic Party of Canada
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