Morneau will place his assets in trust if the commissioner so requires

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Maxime Huard

Monday, 16 October 2017 10:54

UPDATE
Monday, 16 October, 2017 19:07

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OTTAWA | The federal minister of Finance Bill Morneau said on Monday that he will place his assets in a blind trust if the commissioner of conflict of interest and ethics requires it.

“I have followed the requests of the commissioner since the beginning. If she asks me to have a blind trust, I’m going to do to ensure that I am free of any conflict of interest,” he said during a press conference in the suburbs of Toronto.

Journalists have had to take several times before being able to speak directly with Bill Morneau. The prime minister Justin Trudeau insisted at least twice to address himself to the questions before finally giving the floor to his minister.

“All parliamentarians are working with the commissioner to be sure that they are doing things the right way,” said Mr. Trudeau. Bill Morneau has consulted widely to ensure that it was the right thing to protect its integrity and that of his ministry.”

Assets of approximately $43 million

Following his election in 2015, the minister Morneau did not place his assets in a blind trust, reported Sunday evening the “Globe and Mail”.

The Office of the conflict of interest and ethics recommends that the elected officials who have assets placed in a blind trust or sell them. However, Mr. Morneau has not exercised neither the one nor the other of these options, according to the daily life of Toronto.

The minister held in 2015, a little over 2 million shares of the firm specializing in human resources Morneau Sheppell, assets valued at approximately $43 million.

It was impossible for the “Globe” to get the exact details of the steps taken by Bill Morneau, in order to guard against possible conflicts of interest. The latter indicated that commissioner Mary Dawson assured him that he did not need to place his assets in a blind trust.

CBC revealed last week that the minister of Finance had waited two years before reporting to the commissioner of its participation in a company that manages a villa in Provence, France. The office of Mr. Morneau said that this oversight was due to a “confusion”administrative.

In The Commons

The controversy has occupied much of the question period Monday in the House of commons, the opposition tailgating the parliamentary secretary to the minister, Joël Lightbound. The conservatives have accused Mr. Morneau to act as if he was “above the law”, while the new democrats have been criticized for being disconnected from the middle class.

“The minister has complied with the requirements of the ethics commissioner,” repeated Mr. Lightbound repeatedly.

“If the minister is not interested in answering questions, tell him that I have a villa to sell him”, said Guy Caron, parliamentary chief of the new democrats, dissatisfied with the answers provided.