Backgrounder on Interim Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein’s negligently bad enforcement record and the 6 new loopholes he has created in federal ethics laws
(February 7, 2024)
Konrad von Finckenstein was handpicked in secret by the Trudeau Cabinet and appointed Interim Ethics Commissioner at the end of August 2023, replacing Mario Dion who resigned last February due to health reasons, and replacing Martine Richard who served briefly as Interim Ethics Commissioner but resigned after serious questions were raised about her independence and impartiality given she is Trudeau Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc’s sister-in-law.
In addition to being handpicked in secret by the ruling party Cabinet, Mr. von Finckenstein has a long history in the federal bureaucracy, as well as ties to big businesses, that raise serious questions about his independence and impartiality. Mario Dion was also handpicked in secret by the Trudeau Cabinet, and also had a long history in the federal bureaucracy, and a record of 8 unethical actions when he was federal Integrity Commissioner.
Mr. von Finckenstein has buried at least 8 ethics complaints with secret rulings that let off everyone who was alleged to have violated conflict of interest or other ethics rules, based on what is known so far since September when he started his 6-month term in the position of Interim Ethics Commissioner.
In September he testified before the House Ethics Committee that he had “Eight open cases, which involve 11 people” (p. 3 of testimony). Then in October he testified again and said that the cases were “gone” (p. 18 of testimony). He has not issued any rulings finding anyone guilty, which means he let off all 11 of the alleged wrongdoers.
While Mr. von Finckenstein refused DWatch’s request that he disclose all 8 rulings (even though nothing in the Conflict of Interest Act nor in ss. 27(5.1) of the MP Code prohibits such disclosure), 2 of the 8 rulings address complaints that DWatch filed.
The first ruling is about DWatch’s complaint alleging Prime Minister Trudeau violated the Act by appointing his long-time friend David Johnston to investigate the PM’s actions on foreign interference. Mr. von Finckenstein refused to even investigate the complaint based on the bizarre claim that the PM has a “constitutional prerogative” to appoint whomever he wants to any public office. This ruling sets a dangerous precedent that allows the PM to appoint family, relatives and close friends to any federal government position.
The second ruling is about DWatch’s complaint requesting an investigation into Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who is Trudeau’s senior B.C. minister, participating in meetings concerning B.C.-based Teck Resources Ltd. (which lobbied Wilkinson six times while his spouse has significant investments in financial institutions that are among the top investors in Teck). Mr. von Finckenstein also refused to even investigate the situation based on the equally bizarre claim that the private interests “are too remote and speculative to cause them to conflict” with Wilkinson’s public duties. This ruling also sets a dangerous precedent that allows Cabinet ministers and top government officials to participate in decisions when they have a financial conflict of interest.
Mr. von Finckenstein has also created 6 new loopholes in federal ethics laws to add to the 10 huge loopholes in the MP Code and the 10 huge loopholes in the Conflict of Interest Act that applies to the PM, Cabinet ministers, Cabinet staff, Cabinet appointees and top government officials.
The 6 new loopholes Mr. von Finckenstein has created are as follows:
- He is doubling from $30,000 to $60,000 the value of shares that Cabinet staff and top government officials can own in businesses they regulate or make decisions about, (Click here to see his bizarre interpretation – #3 re: Doubling the minimum value exemption and #4 re: CER appointees). This will allow Cabinet staff, top government officials and CER appointees to be in a direct, significant financial conflict of interest and to profit from the decisions they make.
- He is now allowing members of the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) to secretly invest in energy companies, which is possibly why the CER just approved Trans Mountain Corp. changing its pipeline construction plan. (Click here to see his bizarre interpretation – #4 re: CER appointees).
- He is now allowing the Prime Minister to appoint anyone to any government position, even family members and friends (like David Johnston) even when they are investigating wrongdoing by the PM. As mentioned above, see for details his ruling on DWatch’s complaint alleging Prime Minister Trudeau violated the Act by appointing his long-time friend David Johnston to investigate the PM’s actions on foreign interference. Mr. von Finckenstein refused to even investigate the complaint based on the bizarre claim that the PM has a “constitutional prerogative” to appoint whomever he wants to any public office.
- He is now allowing Cabinet ministers and top government officials to participate in a decision-making process even if their spouses have significant financial interests that will be affect by the decision. As mentioned above, see for details his ruling on DWatch’s complaint requesting an investigation into Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who is Trudeau’s senior B.C. minister, participating in meetings concerning B.C.-based Teck Resources Ltd. (which lobbied Wilkinson six times while his spouse has significant investments in financial institutions that are among the top investors in Teck). Mr. von Finckenstein also refused to even investigate the situation based on the equally bizarre claim that the private interests “are too remote and speculative to cause them to conflict” with Wilkinson’s public duties.
- He is now allowing Cabinet staff and top government officials to leave their position and move to another position in the government, or take a contract with the government, without any cooling-off period, even if the position conflicts with the past position. He is doing this because, he told the House Ethics Committee in October, he believes “there cannot be any conflict of interest between different government departments or agencies” and no one in government ever has “confidential information that would be harmful to the government” (Click here to see his bizarre interpretation – #1 re: Definition of the term “entity”). Among many other conflicts of interest between government departments, his interpretation ignores the obvious reality that the interests and information held by ministers and their staff directly conflict with the interests of any agency, board, commission or tribunal that enforces laws that apply to the minister and his/her department. It also ignores the reason for the cooling-off period, which is to prevent ministerial staff from developing relationships with top department officials and then receiving preferential treatment in hiring processes.
- He has set a precedent by deciding not to investigate ethics complaints about a former MP simply because the MP is no longer an MP, which means all MPs have to do is hide their wrongdoing until they resign or retire or are defeated and then they will never be found guilty of violating the law. Mr. von Finckenstein disclosed when he testified on January 20, 2024 before the House Ethics Committee that he had decided not to investigate 4 complaints about a former MP solely because the MP was no longer an MP.
See more on Democracy Watch’s Stop Bad Government Appointments Campaign
and Government Ethics Campaign pages.