Democracy Watch has
if Acadie-Annapolis MP Chris d’Entremont violated the conflict of interest code for members of the House of Commons.
D’Entremont left the Conservative caucus to join the Liberals on Nov. 4.
“Floor-crossing is a fundamental violation of the right of voters to make an informed choice when voting, and the dishonesty and lack of integrity that is at the core of floor-crossing is a clear violation of the code of conduct for MPs,” Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, said in a Nov. 14 new release. “The question is, will the ethics commissioner do anything about it, or will he roll over like a lapdog as he has in so many other situations since the Trudeau cabinet chose him.”
Democracy Watch is a national non-profit, non-partisan organization that advocates for democratic reform, government accountability and corporate responsibility.
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Conacher sent a seven-page letter to conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein on Nov. 14 and released it publicly.
The release said MPs from all parties have chosen to prohibit members of the public from filing requests under section 27 of the code for an inquiry concerning whether an MP has violated any provision of the code that would result in a public ruling by the ethics commissioner under section 28 of the code.
“As a result, the letter requests that the ethics commissioner make a public statement concerning the scope and requirements of section 2 of the MP code generally, and subsection 2(b) specifically, and how the provisions in section 2 apply to floor-crossings in general, and MP d’Entremont’s floor-crossing specifically,” the release said.
The letter outlines d’Entremont running for the Conservatives in three federal elections, including the most recent in April, taking the oath of office as a Conservative and statements made in the House of Commons and in media interviews earlier this year.
“As the above evidence make clear, MP d’Entremont has not fulfilled his public duties with honesty, nor has he upheld the highest standards so as to maintain and enhance public confidence and trust in his integrity,” Conacher wrote. “As a result, the reasonable conclusion is that MP d’Entremont has violated subsection 2(b) of the MP code.”
D’Entremont declined to comment on the release.
Crossing the floor has happened for generations and has included Kings-Hants MP Scott Brison leaving the Conservatives for the Liberals in 2003 and provincially with Halifax Atlantic MLA Brendan Maguire leaving the Liberals in 2024 to join the governing Progressive Conservative caucus.