Under section 13 of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, you are not allowed to participate in debates on, or vote on, questions in which you have a private interest.
You must abstain from such debates or votes. This means you do not have to leave the House of Commons chamber or committee room while the debates or votes are taking place, though you cannot participate.
Section 12 explains what you must do if you have a private interest that could be affected by a matter that comes before the House of Commons or a committee you are part of. If present when the matter is being discussed, you must disclose the general nature of your private interest. You must do that as soon as possible, either orally or in writing. You must also disclose it, in writing, to the Clerk of the House right away.
If you later become aware of a private interest that you should have disclosed, you must do so right away.
The Clerk of the House will have the disclosure recorded in the Journals and send it to the Commissioner. The Commissioner will post it in the public registry.
If you have a private interest that could be affected by your parliamentary work in other situations, you must inform the party concerned about the general nature of the interest as soon as possible, either orally or in writing. You must also send a written notice about it to the Commissioner, who will post it in the public registry.
Your advisor at the Commissioner’s Office can help you understand these rules. Please call 613-995-0721 or send us an email.