Liberal MP Greg Fergus has become the latest Liberal MP to violate the Conflict of Interest Act, which he did by writing a letter of support for a television channel's application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for mandatory carriage..MPs are allowed to write letters of support to the CRTC, but parliamentary secretaries and cabinet ministers cannot. .The conflict of interest and ethics commissioner is now recommending all federal ministers and parliamentary secretaries report to his office for training.."Offers to provide training and educational sessions on a variety of topics have been offered to all federal parties and to regulatees, yet we continue to see a succession of mistakes that are largely attributable to the inability to recognize the need to seek consultation," Commissioner Mario Dion said Tuesday.."I therefore recommend the government consider mandating all ministers and parliamentary secretaries to receive training from the office.".According to Dion, despite offers to provide ethics training over the last five years, he has continued to see senior government officials be "unaware of their obligations" and "mistakenly making assumptions.".He added after years of serving in government, Fergus should have been aware of the ethics rules or sought advice.."I am quite concerned that someone with the breadth of experience of Mr. Fergus would fail to recognize the possibility of a contravention," he said. .In a Thursday statement, Fergus said he apologized for his "unintentional error in providing a letter of support to a francophone specialty channel that reflects black and multi-ethnic communities across Canada."."This letter of support was drafted in part to ensure that black Canadians see themselves reflected in Parliament. As a black Member of Parliament, parliamentary secretary and the previous chair of the parliamentary Black Caucus, I take this seriously," Fergus said..The MP added his behaviour "fell short of what is required of me as a parliamentary secretary."."As I told the commissioner, I will redouble my efforts to be more diligent in the future to ensure my obligations under the act are fully met. I will continue to work closely with his office to do so," he said..The Liberals have been embroiled in a number of scandals since they first rose to power in 2015. In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was found to have breached the Conflict of Interest Act by vacationing on a private island owned by the Aga Khan..The SNC-Lavalin scandal saw Trudeau again break the act by pressuring then-justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to get her to grant a deferred prosecution agreement to the Quebec-based firm. And in 2018, Trudeau accepted two pairs of sunglasses made by a P.E.I-based business without reporting the gift..Recently, International Trade Minister Mary Ng apologized after putting herself in a conflict of interest by giving communications contracts to public relations agency Pomp & Circumstance, which is run by her friend Amanda Alvaro.
