National

Canada's first conflict of interest and ethic commissioner, Mary Dawson, dies

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Jan, 2024 11:20 AM

Former conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson has died.

The commissioner's office posted a statement on its website today announcing it is saddened to learn of Dawson's death on Dec.24.

Dawson was nominated to the role in 2007 by former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and she served until 2018.

Before that she had a lengthy career as a federal bureaucrat, including as the associate deputy minister of the Justice Department.

During her tenure at that department she helped draft major pieces of legislation including the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Canada Health Act and the Official Languages Act.

During her time as ethics commissioner Dawson made many rulings, but among her last was her explosive report that found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated conflict of interest rules by accepting a vacation on the Aga Khan's private island in the Bahamas in 2016.

The statement from the ethics commissioner's office says Dawson's legal expertise "laid the foundations for the way the conflict of interest regimes are administered."

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Union and employers receive mediator's terms to end B.C. port strike, source says

The delivery of the terms comes after federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan late Tuesday instructed the mediator to send him the terms within 24 hours so he could forward them to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association.

Union and employers receive mediator's terms to end B.C. port strike, source says

Four years after passage of law on abandoned boats, only two fines have been levied

The government introduced the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act in 2017. It passed in February 2019 and took effect that July. It made it illegal to abandon a boat in Canada and gives the government the power to go after boat owners when their vessels are wrecked or left behind, including fines up to $1 million.

Four years after passage of law on abandoned boats, only two fines have been levied

High speed chase on Surrey's Hwy 99

Police say it started just after nine last night when the driver of the C-L-S-550 fled the traffic stop, and the vehicle was located a short time later on Highway 99 south of the Serpentine River overpass. The investigation closed the highway for hours, but traffic is now moving again.

High speed chase on Surrey's Hwy 99

Zelenskyy declares NATO summit victory for Ukraine as Canada, allies pledge more help

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other NATO leaders wrapped up their two-day summit Wednesday, they bid farewell to a very different version of Volodymyr Zelenskyy than the one they had met the day before. Ukraine's president declared the meetings a success, even though he left without the thing he had most vehemently argued for: a quick invitation for his country to join the alliance.

Zelenskyy declares NATO summit victory for Ukraine as Canada, allies pledge more help

More evacuations, alerts, reflect difficult wildfire season in B.C., Yukon

At least 12 new evacuation orders or alerts have been issued over the last day in British Columbia as lightning storms and drought conditions add to the challenge of fighting hundreds of wildfires. The BC Wildfire Service says just over two-thirds of the province's roughly 330 fires are raging in those two centres.

More evacuations, alerts, reflect difficult wildfire season in B.C., Yukon

U.S. hiker dies after falling from popular B.C. hiking trail near Whistler

Sea to Sky officers as well as RCMP Air Services, BC Ambulance paramedics and Whistler Search and Rescue responded to a report that a woman had fallen off the Black Tusk chimney portion of Garibaldi Provincial Park on Monday and was seriously injured.