A Liberal-appointed Senator has taken yet another outside job with corporate directorship fees, says Blacklock's Reporter..Senate ethics rules do not prohibit Sen. Sarabjit Marwah (Ont.) from serving on corporate boards while drawing a salary from taxpayers..Marwah in an ethics filing disclosed he'd taken a paid position as director of Onex Corporation, a publicly-traded investment company that reported $1.7 billion in net earnings last year..Directors’ fees were not disclosed..Marwah updated his filings two weeks before resigning as chair of the Senate committee on internal economy..“I intend to resign as chair of the committee at the end of this meeting,” Marwah abruptly announced at a June 23 hearing..“I really do believe we have accomplished a great deal,” he added..The ethics code for Senators does not prohibit members from accepting six-figure corporate appointments while drawing their $164,500-a year Senate salaries. Active stock trading in any publicly-traded corporation is also allowed..Marwah in 2020 pocketed $341,500 in corporate fees as a director of Cineplex Inc. and George Weston Ltd., operator of Loblaw supermarkets..In 2019, Marwah resigned another directorship at Telus Communications Inc. that paid $228,279 a year. Three of the board appointments included a total $4.3 million in stock options, according to financial filings..Marwah in 2021 would not take questions on whether he maintained a Bay Street office at Scotiabank and used a bank email address while conducting Senate business. Marwah had been Scotiabank’s $1.2 million-a year chief administrative officer prior to this 2016 appointment to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau..Marwah had served 35 years at Scotiabank’s Toronto head office. The Bank would not comment on his ties to the corporation..Marwah declined multiple requests for interviews. The Senator last September 8 formally complained when another legislator, Sen. Marilou McPhedran (Man.), wrote the Senate Ethics Office to make enquiries regarding his corporate dealings..Legislators in the past proposed amendments to tighten the Senate’s conflict code..“Most Canadians would be shocked when they realize the current situation is that people working with Senators and the Senate itself is not considered a full-time job and that you can maintain interests, business dealings, that are inconsistent with your obligations to serve only the interests of Canada,” Green MP Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C.) earlier told reporters..“These laws need to change. It’s a shocking thing to me that the conflict of interest guidelines for senators remain so weak.”.“We must not operate where we have a personal conflict, where there is a pecuniary, personal benefit to an individual senator when making decisions which we are sworn to do solely with the good of Canada in mind."
