Another Liberal caucus member has been caught afoul of federal ethics rules, marking the tenth current or former government MP found in breach since 2015.Blacklock's Reporter says Randeep Sarai, the Liberal MP for Surrey Centre, B.C., was fined $200 after failing to provide complete disclosure to the federal Ethics Commissioner within 60 days of his appointment as Secretary of State for International Development. The maximum allowable fine under the Conflict of Interest Act is $500.According to filings, Sarai had previously declared significant real estate and financial interests, including seven rental properties in Burnaby and Surrey and multiple mortgages. Records show he held two mortgages with Vancouver City Savings Credit Union and was a co-guarantor on loans involving the National Bank, Envision Credit Union and the Bank of Montreal. He was also listed as a signatory on a Royal Bank car loan, a VanCity line of credit and a home equity line of credit with National Bank.Sarai now joins a growing list of Liberal figures who have faced findings under the Act or the companion Conflict of Interest Code for MPs. .Those cited since 2015 include Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former finance minister Bill Morneau, Privy Council president Dominic LeBlanc, former trade minister Mary Ng, and MPs Greg Fergus, James Maloney and Anita Vandenbeld, along with former MPs Joe Peschisolido and Yasmin Ratansi.Despite repeated controversies, Parliament has yet to strengthen penalties under the Act. Former Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion told MPs in 2022 that suspending members could serve as “an effective remedy” and wrote in 2018 that Canadians expect meaningful consequences for rule-breakers beyond public exposure.“This would provide Canadians with the assurance that there are more serious consequences for breaching the Act than the current regime of naming and shaming,” Dion wrote at the time, arguing tougher measures would help restore trust..The Conservative Party of Canada has long called for stiffer sanctions.During the 2019 campaign, then-leader Andrew Scheer proposed increasing the maximum fine from $500 to $20,000.In 2021, the party went further, floating fines of up to $50,000 tied to the severity of the offence and the offender’s net worth.At ethics committee hearings in 2022, former Conservative MP Damien Kurek argued the existing penalties lack bite, noting that a $500 maximum fine is hardly significant in the eyes of many Canadians. He said Parliament must ensure there is a real disincentive for public office holders to break the rules.
