“Was no need to put his substantial assets in a blind trust”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau had asked for a meeting with the conflict of interest commissioner in the wake of an escalating controversy about whether his personal wealth is being ethically managed given his cabinet role.  The federal ethics watchdog  is reported to have  advised Finance Minister Bill Morneau there was no need to put his substantial assets in a blind trust. “I told him that it wasn’t required,” ethics commissioner Mary Dawson said, although she acknowledged it was ultimately up to Morneau to choose how to handle his affairs. “I took a look at what he disclosed and according to what was disclosed, and which I do for anybody, I make a judgment as to what’s necessary.”

Earlier,  New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen called it a “striking example” of the appearance of conflict of interest involving a cabinet minister, since Morneau remains involved in Morneau Shepell, which works in the field of pensions and pension shifting.“The appearance of conflict of interest in this case is worrisome, it is shocking,” said Cullen, who has called on Dawson to investigate Morneau over pension-reform legislation that could benefit the finance minister through shares he owns in his company.

“These increases in targeted benefit plans — that’s what Bill C-27 deals with — directly benefit Morneau Shepell and directly benefit the finance minister.”

The Conservatives demanded that Morneau publicly divulge everything he has submitted to the ethics commissioner since the Liberals took office in 2015. Tory MP Pierre Poilievre said Morneau should disclose who controls his interests in Morneau Shepell.

“Minister Morneau has not told the nation what became of his $30 million in Morneau Shepell shares,” Poilievre said. “We’re just asking him to come clean with Canadians.”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau waited two years to disclose a private corporation that owns a villa in southern France that he shares with his wife to Canada’s ethics watchdog.   Morneau only disclosed the corporation to conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson’s office after a media house discovered its existence and began asking questions. Morneau’s office said the failure to disclose the company is the result of “early administrative confusion.” Communications director Dan Lauzon said the villa was disclosed but the company was not.

In the House of Commons, opposition parties have attacked Morneau over the lack of a blind trust, as well as last week’s revelation that he failed to disclose a private company that owns a family villa in France.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — who defended Morneau at a joint news conference Monday to the point of awkwardly fielding questions on his behalf — insists his finance minister has followed all federal ethics rules.

Dawson later told a leading TV channel that Morneau’s shares are controlled by a private corporation and not directly controlled by the finance minister. She said he didn’t technically need to divest or put the shares in a blind trust. “He doesn’t hold them, the corporation holds them, that’s the legal entity,” Dawson told the channel.

A key player in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet and of the Liberal government’s economic agenda, Morneau has faced mounting questions about his financial holdings after a media report revealed he did not put his assets into a blind trust.

The day he was named to cabinet in November 2015, Morneau told CBC he had communicated with the ethics commissioner about his holdings in his human resources company, Morneau Shepell. He said he expected to put them in a blind trust, much like former Liberal finance minister Paul Martin did with Canada Steamship Lines.