Martine Richard
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Martine Richard | |
|---|---|
| Interim Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada | |
| In office 27 March 2023 – 19 April 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Mario Dion |
| Personal details | |
| Relatives | Dominic Leblanc (brother-in-law) |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
Martine Richard is a Canadian public servant who served as the interim conflict of interest and ethics commissioner of Canada. She was appointed on 27 March 2023, succeeding Mario Dion.[1] Richard's appointment was intended to be interim for a six-month period, until a regular appointment was made, but she resigned several weeks after the appointment.[2][3]
In the days after her appointment, opposition parties criticized her appointment to the role, due to her perceived closeness to the government.[4] She is Dominic LeBlanc's sister-in-law.[4][5]
Prior to her appointment as interim commissioner, Richard worked in the commissioner's office since 2013,[6] having served as a senior legal adviser and investigator since 2015.[4] During investigations into the SNC-Lavalin affair, she recused herself from at least two investigations due to perceived conflict of interest.[7][8][9] In 2018, Richard also recused herself from an investigation of LeBlanc in which he was found to have violated the Conflict of Interest Act for awarding a lucrative fishing licence to a company linked to his wife's cousin.[10][11]
On 18 April 2023, a motion was passed at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics to review the appointment and require Richard and LeBlanc to testify.[2] The following day, Richard resigned as ethics commissioner, returning to her previous role as a lawyer in the ethics commissioner's office.[12][13]