Former conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson has passed away.
The Commissioner’s Office posted a statement on its website today saying it was saddened to learn of Mr. Dawson’s death on December 24th.
“Her leadership and commitment to precise legal standards laid the foundation for how we manage our conflict of interest system,” the agency said in a statement.
“Mr. Dawson implemented many of the practices used in offices today.”
Mr Dawson was appointed to the role by former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007 and served until 2018.
Prior to that, he had a long career in federal government, including serving as deputy minister in the Department of Justice.
Dawson helped draft major legislation.
She first joined the federal service as a researcher in 1967 and moved to the Department of Justice the following year.
During her tenure at the Department, she helped draft major legislation including the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Canada Health Act, and the Official Languages Act.
Dawson was the first member of the federal Conflicts of Interest and Ethics Committee. The Harper government established the new office after passing the Conflict of Interest Act, which is part of the Federal Accountability Act.
Mr. Dawson handed down a number of decisions during his time as Ethics Commissioner. Among her last reports was her explosive report in 2016 that revealed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated conflict of interest rules by accepting a vacation on the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas. was there.
Speaking to the Globe and Mail before retiring in 2018, Dawson acknowledged as much. “I went out feeling kind of excited,” she said.
