Letting watchdogs be reappointed is not a good idea, for anyone

The recent spotlight on the ethics commissioner should prompt the feds to improve the appointment process.

With the announcement that she will not seek another term, federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has rendered concerns about any possible conflict moot. MPs should nevertheless take this opportunity to examine the appointment process of parliamentary watchdogs, writes Charles Murray. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY CHARLES MURRAY

February 8, 2017

FREDERICTON, N.B.—At its highest water mark, opposition critics were not prepared to ask the federal Parliament’s ethics commissioner to recuse herself from investigating the prime minister while her future status was uncertain. But it caused one critic to muse that the situation was “

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