Trade Minister Mary Ng has signed a “conflict of interest screen” pledging to never award another sole sourced contract to a longtime friend and CBC-TV pundit. The written pledge followed testimony at the House of Commons ethics committee that rated contracts for Amanda Alvaro as unusual..“The Ethics Commissioner and I have agreed a conflict of interest screen is an appropriate measure to prevent any opportunity while exercising my official powers, duties and functions to further the private interests of my friend Ms. Amanda Alvaro, president of Pomp & Circumstances, or by giving preferential treatment to Pomp & Circumstances that may have future dealings with the government of Canada,” Minister Ng wrote in an ethics filing..“This screen is administered by my chief of staff to ensure I am neither made aware of nor a participant in any discussions or decision-making processes pertaining to the private interests of my friend or matters relating specifically to Pomp & Circumstances,” wrote Ng..The Minister awarded media coaching contracts worth $22,790 to the Toronto public relations firm run by Alvaro, a pundit on the CBC-TV show Power & Politics. The two were friends for decades, shared vacations and celebrated birthdays together, according to an ethics investigation..Deputy Trade Minister Rob Stewart in testimony Tuesday at the Commons ethics committee said Ng’s office ordered employees to award the contracts. “While there are departmental officials involved in the execution of these contracts, the material decisions to pick the supplier in a sole-sourced contact, to determine this is the contract price and value and to tell the department to write the contract up and at the end to approve payment all rest with, in this case, the Minister’s office,” said Stewart..“Is it unusual to have a sole-sourced contract for communications that was initiated by the minister?” asked Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman (Thornhill, ON). “To be honest I’m not aware of any,” replied Stewart..The Ethics Commissioner in a report last December 13 said Ng’s breach of the Conflict Of Interest Act was inexcusable. “Minister Ng twice failed to recognize a potential conflict of interest involving a friend,” said Commissioner Mario Dion. “There is simply no excuse.”.The investigation was prompted by a formal complaint last May 25 from Conservative MP James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake, Mb). “This is regrettably just another installment in the long-running saga of members of this Liberal government making a mockery of both the letter and spirit of the ethical laws,” Bezan wrote at the time..Ng apologized in the Commons. “I am sorry for this shortcoming and it will not happen again,” said Ng..“If the trade minister was truly sorry she would pay the money back,” replied Bezan. “The trade minister got caught giving two sweetheart deals to her friend who also worked on her campaign.”
