本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛OTTAWA (CP) - There's a possibility Stephen Harper's first act as prime minister may have breached the parliamentary conflict-of-interest code for MPs, the federal ethics commissioner indicated Friday.
Bernard Shapiro has launched a "preliminary inquiry" into Harper's controversial appointment of former Liberal David Emerson to the Conservative cabinet.
"After careful consideration, and pursuant to . . . the members code, I have decided to combine a preliminary inquiry of the prime minister . . . with a preliminary inquiry on my own initiative of Mr. Emerson," Shapiro wrote in an open letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
"My intention is to issue one report."
The announcement comes almost a month after Harper shocked the political establishment by plucking Emerson, the former Liberal industry minister, from the opposition front bench and placing the Vancouver MP in his first Conservative cabinet.
The move came the same day Harper was sworn into office and just two weeks after Emerson won his Vancouver-Kingsway seat running as a Liberal.
Harper's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday, nor did Emerson.
Shapiro also would not comment on the investigation. His letter gave few indications of the specific direction he will take.
The inquiry, he wrote, will "determine whether Mr. Harper has complied with his obligations under the Conflict of Interest Code for members of the House of Commons."
Three opposition MPs asked Shapiro to investigate Harper's role in inducing Emerson to switch parties. But the ethics czar said "numerous requests from the public" helped convince him to investigate Emerson's behaviour as well.
Peter Julian, the B.C. New Democrat who spearheaded the intervention, lauded the decision to investigate as a logical follow to Shapiro's ruling in January on the case of Gurmant Grewal and Ujjal Dosanjh.
Grewal, a former Conservative MP, surreptitiously taped bargaining sessions with Dosanjh, who was then the Liberal health minister, in which both MPs appeared to be haggling for Grewal's vote in the Commons last spring.
"(Shapiro) said very clearly that if a benefit is offered, that would constitute a breach of the members' code," said Julian.
In Emerson's case, said the New Democrat, "we have a very clear appearance of benefits being offered - because a cabinet minister has a much larger salary, there are a whole range of perks and benefits."
Julian said he believes public tolerance for floor-crossing was severely tested when former Tory Belinda Stronach jumped to the Liberal cabinet last May, and that Emerson's "blatantly contemptuous" move so soon after being elected was the "final straw."
But it is not clear from Shapiro's ruling in the Grewal case that Emerson's appointment as minister for international trade under Harper necessarily breaches the ethics code.
"'Crossing the floor has a long and fascinating history in Canada," Shapiro wrote in his Jan. 25 report on Grewal.
He cited the particularly tawdry details of the Grewal negotiations and noted: "Genuine political principles and competency, for example, do not seem to have been an important feature of the conversations."
Harper has defended Emerson's appointment as a crucial representation in government of Vancouver interests and a skilled negotiator on the softwood lumber file.
"If you're equating the Grewal situation with mine, I take great offence," Emerson said recently in one of his only public availabilities as a Tory.
Emerson also said he would live with whatever findings might come of any probe by the federal ethics commissioner.
"If I'm found to be guilty of wrongdoing, I will leave," Emerson said Feb. 13 in Vancouver.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
Bernard Shapiro has launched a "preliminary inquiry" into Harper's controversial appointment of former Liberal David Emerson to the Conservative cabinet.
"After careful consideration, and pursuant to . . . the members code, I have decided to combine a preliminary inquiry of the prime minister . . . with a preliminary inquiry on my own initiative of Mr. Emerson," Shapiro wrote in an open letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
"My intention is to issue one report."
The announcement comes almost a month after Harper shocked the political establishment by plucking Emerson, the former Liberal industry minister, from the opposition front bench and placing the Vancouver MP in his first Conservative cabinet.
The move came the same day Harper was sworn into office and just two weeks after Emerson won his Vancouver-Kingsway seat running as a Liberal.
Harper's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday, nor did Emerson.
Shapiro also would not comment on the investigation. His letter gave few indications of the specific direction he will take.
The inquiry, he wrote, will "determine whether Mr. Harper has complied with his obligations under the Conflict of Interest Code for members of the House of Commons."
Three opposition MPs asked Shapiro to investigate Harper's role in inducing Emerson to switch parties. But the ethics czar said "numerous requests from the public" helped convince him to investigate Emerson's behaviour as well.
Peter Julian, the B.C. New Democrat who spearheaded the intervention, lauded the decision to investigate as a logical follow to Shapiro's ruling in January on the case of Gurmant Grewal and Ujjal Dosanjh.
Grewal, a former Conservative MP, surreptitiously taped bargaining sessions with Dosanjh, who was then the Liberal health minister, in which both MPs appeared to be haggling for Grewal's vote in the Commons last spring.
"(Shapiro) said very clearly that if a benefit is offered, that would constitute a breach of the members' code," said Julian.
In Emerson's case, said the New Democrat, "we have a very clear appearance of benefits being offered - because a cabinet minister has a much larger salary, there are a whole range of perks and benefits."
Julian said he believes public tolerance for floor-crossing was severely tested when former Tory Belinda Stronach jumped to the Liberal cabinet last May, and that Emerson's "blatantly contemptuous" move so soon after being elected was the "final straw."
But it is not clear from Shapiro's ruling in the Grewal case that Emerson's appointment as minister for international trade under Harper necessarily breaches the ethics code.
"'Crossing the floor has a long and fascinating history in Canada," Shapiro wrote in his Jan. 25 report on Grewal.
He cited the particularly tawdry details of the Grewal negotiations and noted: "Genuine political principles and competency, for example, do not seem to have been an important feature of the conversations."
Harper has defended Emerson's appointment as a crucial representation in government of Vancouver interests and a skilled negotiator on the softwood lumber file.
"If you're equating the Grewal situation with mine, I take great offence," Emerson said recently in one of his only public availabilities as a Tory.
Emerson also said he would live with whatever findings might come of any probe by the federal ethics commissioner.
"If I'm found to be guilty of wrongdoing, I will leave," Emerson said Feb. 13 in Vancouver.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net