Liberal MP Greg Fergus stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 2, 2022.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The federal ethics commissioner says Liberal MP Greg Fergus breached the Conflict of Interest Act by writing a letter to Canada’s broadcast regulator to support a television channel’s application for mandatory carriage.
The letter was submitted to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission last year to encourage required distribution of Natyf TV, which serves a multicultural francophone audience, as part of digital basic services.
Fergus, who represents the Quebec riding of Hull-Aylmer, is also parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Treasury Board President Mona Fortier, and he has served as head of the Liberal Black Caucus.
The Canadian Press came across Fergus’s letter during a routine examination of filings with the CRTC last fall.
In a ruling today, conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mario Dion says Fergus sought to improperly further Natyf’s private interests because he intervened in the decision-making process of a quasi-judicial tribunal.
Dion says his office has previously established that ministers and parliamentary secretaries should not write letters of support to quasi-judicial tribunals like the CRTC, given their governmental roles and the influence they have.