Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has weighed in on the recent complaints about a Halifax fundraiser on behalf of Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
The fundraiser, held at a property owned by a major land developer, charged up to $1,500 per guest and was attended by business executives. Opposition critics accused the Liberals of essentially selling access to the cabinet minister.
But Dawson said the fundraiser didn鈥檛 break any rules.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not covered by the Conflict of Interest Act -- but they certainly could improve the rules,鈥� Dawson told CTV鈥檚 Power Play.
However, last year the Liberals established a strict set of directives that included avoiding situations that appeared to provide preferential access to government.
"Ministers and parliamentary secretaries must ensure that political fundraising activities or considerations do not affect, or appear to affect, the exercise of their official duties or the access of individuals or organizations to government," the rules say.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Morneau insisted the fundraiser conformed to the party鈥檚 rules.
"Like all members of this House, I'm engaged in fundraising activities in support of my party," Morneau said. "The Oct. 13 event in question was organized by the Liberal Party of Canada and we followed all of the applicable rules.
Dawson agreed with the Liberals.
鈥淭he fundraising rule is extremely thin. It鈥檚 just you can鈥檛 personally fundraise if it would put you in a conflict of interest,鈥� she said.
She doesn鈥檛 think this conflict is likely to happen while attending a fundraising event because a conflict of interest is defined as something that furthers someone鈥檚 personal interest.
But Dawson added that there are definitely a lot of protections that could be put in place to prevent situations like this from occurring.
