Competing bills tabled to change conflict rules for P.E.I. MLAs

Two years after P.E.I.'s Conflict of Interest Commissioner John McQuaid issued a comprehensive set of recommendations that he said would clarify and improve conflict of interest rules for MLAs, two competing pieces of legislation have been put forward to implement those changes.

Green MLA Hannah Bell and Justice Minister Jordan Brown tabled their bills within minutes of one another on the opening day of the spring sitting.

But whereas Bell's private members bill includes all of the commissioner's recommendations, Brown's government bill leaves out what Bell maintains are the two most important ones.

Allowing public reports of conflict among MLAs

Bell's Act to Amend the Conflict of Interest Act includes a change that would allow members of the public to come forward to the commissioner with a complaint if they feel an MLA might be in a conflict of interest.

Only MLAs are allowed to do that under P.E.I.'s current legislation. A complaint put forward this week by PC MLA Brad Trivers regarding what he characterized as a possible conflict involving the premier is the first complaint to be sent to the commissioner in a decade.

"Government has to be willing to hear from the public and can't shut them out of accountability processes," Bell said of the move to allow ordinary citizens to be part of the conflict of interest process for MLAs.

"There needs to be more avenues for the public to feel like they can speak truth to power."

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When asked why his bill An Act to Amend the Conflict of Interest Act (No. 2) does not include this recommendation from the conflict of interest commissioner, Brown said the bill was drawn up by the province's legislative management committee.

Committee 'did not agree'

That committee includes members from all three parties in the legislature, but its meetings are held in private.

Speaker Buck Watts, who's chair of the committee, told CBC News the move to give citizens the ability to lodge conflict of interest complaints about MLAs wasn't included in the government bill because "the committee did not agree with that recommendation."

Something else that sets the two bills apart Bell's bill includes a recommendation to extend the "cooling off" period for former cabinet ministers from sixto 12 months. The government bill does not include that change.

Both bills include language to clarify what constitutes a "private interest" for an MLA, and a reduction in the maximum value of a gift an MLA can accept without reporting it, from $500 to $200.

While both bills are on the order paper, neither has yet been called for debate.

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