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Standing Senate Committee on Conflict of
Interest for Senators
Senator Angus has been selected as one of the five Members of
the special, new Senate Standing Committee on Conflict of
Interest for Senators. This important new Committee is
presently being organized pursuant to the applicable Statute and
Senate Rules.
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Senator Angus welcomes the new Conflict of Interest Code and
believes it represents a significant
milestone in the history of the Senate. The new code is the product
of years of debate and study amongst Parliamentarians. On
March 31, 2004, after lengthy study, debate and controversy, Bill C-4 of the Third Session of the Thirty-seventh
Parliament, to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (Ethics
Commissioner and Senate Ethics Officer) and other acts in
consequence, was enacted. This enabling legislation led to
the appointment of Mr. Bernard Shapiro of Montreal as appointed
Ethics Commissioner of the House of Commons and Mr. Jean
Fournier as Senate Ethics Officer. It is as well the
governing statute for the Conflict of Interest Code for
Senators.
Senator Angus stated in the Senate before the Code's unanimous
adoption on May 18th his view that the Code is timely and necessary in order to
help obviate the public's concerns about the Senate. He
also feels
that the Code is appropriate to some of the particular needs of
the Senate and responsive to the public's need and right to be
sure that Senators' conduct is appropriately monitored and that
a cogent, fair and balanced rules-based process is in place to
ensure that Senators fulfill their public trust on the one hand
and continue to enjoy privacy in the conduct of their
personal lives and affairs on the other.
The applicable Rules provide that
Members of the new Standing Committee on Conflict of Interest
for Senators shall be chosen at the beginning of each session
and in a very particular way in order to ensure confidentiality
and non-partisanship as laid out by the Report. The
Committee is composed of two Senators from the Government side,
two from the Opposition, each elected by their own Caucuses.
The fifth member was
elected by these four from amongst candidates from the Senate at
large who indicated a
willingness to serve. The Chair and deputy
Chair will be chosen by the other four members of the
Committee during the week of July 18th.
The full composition of the new Standing Committee is as
follows: Senator Raynell Andreychuk (Conservative)
Senator W. David Angus (Conservative)
Senator Sharon Carstairs (Liberal)
Senator Serge Joyal (Liberal)
Senator Fernand Robichaud (Liberal)
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