The Commissioner’s Office can investigate people covered by the Conflict of Interest Act and/or the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons:
- Elected Members of Parliament
- Ministers
- Parliamentary secretaries
- Ministerial staff
- People appointed to their positions by the Governor in Council (the Governor General acting on the advice of the Cabinet), such as members of federal boards, commissions and tribunals, and some senior public servants
It can investigate matters covered by the Act and the Code, which deal specifically with conflicts of interest. The Act and the Code aim to ensure that elected or appointed federal officials do not use their positions to:
- further their private interests,
- further the private interests of family members (and friends, in the case of the Act), or
- improperly further the private interests of anyone else.
What don’t we investigate?
The Commissioner’s Office cannot investigate anyone who is not covered by the Act or the Code. They include:
- Most federal public servants
- Most employees of federal Crown corporations
- Members’ staff
- Political parties
- Provincial and territorial officials
- Municipal officials
- Companies and other organizations in the private sector
The Commissioner’s mandate is about conflicts of interest within the meaning of the Act and the Code. It does not cover every kind of ethical issue.
For example, unless a specific rule in the Act or the Code appears to have been broken, we don’t investigate complaints about:
- How Members of the House of Commons communicate with their constituents, behave in the House of Commons, or spend their parliamentary budgets
- How a federal department or organization has treated somebody
- How a provincial or territorial department or organization has treated somebody
- Issues involving criminal or civil law, including family law
- Matters of government policy