This Week’s Ethics Vote and Update on Parliamentary Committees Work

MPs vote to direct senior officials to testify in the Conflict of Interest law review, plus updates from committees, and Calgary pop-ups as as the office move progresses.

This week, Parliament passed an order in two votes to direct that senior officials testify regarding the conflict-of-interest screen setup for the Prime Minister during its statutory review of the Conflict of Interest Act. You can find the original report and the amended version of the report here. The main motion passed 171 to 163. In favour were 141 Conservative, 7 NDP, and 22 Bloc Québécois MPs. Opposing were 163 Liberals and a Green MP.

What is this about? The parliamentary committee often just referred to as the “ethics committee” passed a motion outlining how it would handle the review of the Conflict of Interest Act. Once that report got to the House of Commons, where all MPs are present, they then have the right to vote on whether to accept the contents of that report. Instead the majority chose to amend it and new direction added to the ethics committee. This is not uncommon. All parliamentary committees exist to do work and investigations on behalf of all MPs. Sometimes direct instruction is given in this format to direct work, spell out timelines and instruct certain witnesses to appear. In this particular case, two votes resulted in several witnesses being mandated to appear as part of the review including the Clerk of the Privy Council, the prime minister’s chief of staff, the CEO of Brookfield, the President of Brookfield Asset Management who is also the CEO of Brookfield Renewable Partners. The new deadline for the committee review of the law including these five witnesses is now November 28, 2025.

All parliamentarians as well as other public office holders are required by the relevant ethics law to provide a fulsome disclosure to the ethics commissioner. That same commissioner’s office then reviews it, notes potential conflicts of interest directing then ethics screens or blind trusts or other measures, and finally a public registry lists the relevant assets of MPs typically for those with individual holdings over $10,000.

As for my own ethics disclosure, I am one of 77 MPs with a completed disclosure as of the date of this newsletter. There are 343 MPs total in this Parliament. You can find the progress for all parliamentarians here: You can also find my own complete disclosure here. Residents can compare my disclosure with those of other MPs to see the differences.

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In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about the largest federal program by cost — the combined Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). The attached table was prepared by the Library of Parliament, using data from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions’ 18th Actuarial Report on the Old Age Security Program (as of December 31, 2021).

A sharp-eyed resident noticed that the table header mistakenly listed the figures in “($ millions)” instead of “billions.” The description in the newsletter itself correctly referred to the numbers and the figures are also correct. I appreciate the feedback and thank Eric for catching it. The numbers are indeed in billions, and I regret not catching that error.

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This week I had a great visit from Janis, a Calgary Shepard resident from Seton, who stopped by my Ottawa office on behalf of the Canadian Real Estate Association. We talked about the housing market back home — from the new builds going up in the southeast communities to the challenges first-time buyers and renters are facing. Housing continues to be a top concern for many families in Calgary Shepard. Janis shared the on-the-ground perspective of realtors working directly with buyers and sellers. These conversations help keep me connected to what’s happening in our community and provide valuable insight as Parliament continues to study national housing policy and supply issues.

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I welcomed a group of young Canadians of Polish heritage to Parliament Hill this week, joined by Dominic Roszak, president of the Canadian Polish Congress. Seeing the next generation take an interest in our country’s history and democratic institutions is always encouraging. During their visit, I had the opportunity to show them around Parliament while talking about how Canada’s Parliament has evolved over time. We talked about the history of the building itself, the meaning behind its symbols, and the role that Members of Parliament play in representing their communities across the country. Engaging young Canadians in these conversations helps strengthen the civic understanding that keeps our democracy active and meaningful.

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As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, my Calgary office is now closed while I move the office into a new space within the new riding boundaries. Once the renovations to the new office and the move-in is complete, I will share the new address here.

In the meantime, I’m organizing a series of pop-up offices across our communities to stay accessible and continue helping residents with federal matters. These sessions are a good opportunity to sit down and talk about federal policies or share feedback on issues that affect you and your family.

Upcoming pop-up offices:

• Tuesday, November 4 — New Brighton Residents Association Building, 2 New Brighton Drive SE

• Wednesday, November 12 — Seton Library, 4995 Market St SE

More dates and locations will be announced soon. If you’d like to meet to discuss a case file, ask a policy question, or share your views directly, please RSVP using the link below so my team can schedule time for you.

You can continue to reach me and my staff by email at tom.kmiec@parl.gc.ca or by phone at 1-855-852-5710. Even while the move is underway, my team and I are here to help.

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What Else Happened This Week in Parliament:

• Bill C-3 – Citizenship Act Amendments: after returning from the immigration committee with significant conservative amendments. These changes strengthen security provisions, a stronger substantive connection test to Canada, and require passing a citizenship test. Conservative MP Grant Jackson called the earlier version of the law “bonkers,” while Liberal MP Guillaume Deschênes said the bill corrects “an historic injustice.”

• Natural Resources Committee: Executives from Canada’s helium and mining sectors told MPs that overlapping reviews and slow approvals are pushing investment to the U.S. and Australia. They warned that unless Ottawa streamlines permitting and modernizes tax rules, Canada risks losing ground in the global critical-minerals race.

• Science and Research Committee: Witnesses Benjamin Bergen of the Council of Canadian Innovators and Luc Sirois, Quebec’s Chief Innovation Officer, told MPs that 90 percent of Canadian patents are foreign-owned. They urged Ottawa to protect home-grown intellectual property and adopt a mission-driven innovation model similar to DARPA in the U.S.

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee: Farmers warned MPs that fraudulent poultry imports labelled as “spent fowl” continue to undercut domestic producers and threaten food safety. They urged the government to deploy available DNA tests to stop the long-standing loophole and enforce fair competition.

• Environment Committee: Former Alberta provincial minister Sonya Savage, Indigenous leader Dale Swampy, and Manitoba farmers testified that Ottawa’s fertilizer caps and carbon tax are harming productivity and trust. They urged collaboration with provinces and industry to meet emissions goals more effectively.

• Ethics Committee: Former Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick and journalist Sam Cooper testified that Canada’s ethics rules depend too much on “perception.” Wernick called them subjective, while Cooper said trust in government is being replaced by “hope and trust.” MPs debated reforms to make the Ethics Commissioner more independent.

• Finance Committee: Conservative MP Pat Kelly moved to expedite Bill C-4—the government’s affordability bill—to advance housing and GST rebate measures before winter. The bill passed clause-by-clause with Bloc amendments broadening the GST new-housing rebate.

• Industry and Technology Committee: Flavio Volpe from the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association and Brian Kingston from the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association warned MPs that the federal electric-vehicle sales mandate threatens affordability and competitiveness. A Conservative motion from MP Raquel Dancho to abolish the EV mandate passed 5-4.

• Health Committee: Doctors Scott Alexander and Viren Naik told MPs that Canadian-trained physicians working abroad face major barriers returning home due to rigid licensing and limited residency slots. MPs agreed Canada needs better coordination between immigration and medical training systems.

• Human Resources Committee: Secretary of State for Seniors Stephanie McLean faced questions on why OAS increases only apply to those over 75. Youth organizations later urged greater federal support for trades training, housing, and affordability programs for young workers.

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What I’m Reading:

• An investigation by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation found that the federal government spent public funds on projects like a $105,000 study on the life cycle of grocery carts, $94,000 on the “rhetoric of the selfie,” and $20,000 on the “gender politics of Peruvian rock music.” The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council distributes over $1 billion a year, often for studies that have yet to produce results years later.

• Cutting spending won’t cut it, Canada’s tax system needs an overhaul: Alicia Planincic argues Canada hasn’t done real tax reform since the 1960s; our business taxes are uncompetitive and overly complex, and lowering corporate rates could actually raise revenues by boosting investment and growth.

• Energy is everything—for Canada and the world: Philip Deck argues that energy underpins prosperity and even the AI race; without faster build-out (including near-term natural gas and long-term nuclear/geothermal), the West risks ceding technological and geopolitical ground.