
Conflict-of-interest screens working well, Trudeau cabinet ministers say
OTTAWA — Several members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet are singing the praises of conflict-of-interest screens they have been using to avoid controversy — and that members of the previous Conservative government used as well.
The screens, along with the use of numbered holding companies to separate ministers from their assets, have been pulled into an intense public debate in recent weeks amid allegations of conflict of interest that have stalked Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
Morneau set up one of the screens after entering office in 2015 on a recommendation from the federal ethics commissioner, who told him a blind trust wouldn’t be necessary since his shares in his family’s firm were indirectly held through private companies, and therefore not subject to the Conflict of Interest Act.
And he’s not the only one: Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould had a similar arrangement with assets until they were divested in April 2016.