Investigations

What can the Commissioner investigate?

The Commissioner can only investigate alleged breaches of the provisions in the Act which deal with preventing a Member from receiving personal financial gain from using knowledge they’ve received as part of the duties of their elected office. Members may be conflict with the Act if they pass this information on to someone else for that person’s profit.

The Commissioner cannot investigate whether a Member failed to follow any other law, or whether the Member is following general moral or ethical standards.

Who can ask the Commissioner to investigate an issue?

The Commissioner conducts an investigation into an alleged conflict when requested by someone with reasonable grounds to believe a Member is in a conflict under the Act. A member of the public, a fellow Member, the Legislative Assembly, or the Premier must submit written evidence to the Office of the Commissioner for review. The application must include:

• their own name and contact information;
• an explanation of their understanding of the event or circumstances that put the MLA in conflict; and,
• affidavit evidence to support their submission.

Forms provided by the Commissioner’s office are available to assist in filing the required written evidence.

What does an investigation look like?

The Commissioner receives the completed forms and reviews it to determine whether the evidence indicates a conflict of interest under the Act. If so, then the Commissioner may conduct a confidential investigation, interviewing people, requesting documents, and gathering evidence to determine whether the Member failed to follow the rules of the Act.

Does the public know the result of the Commissioner’s investigation?

Following the investigation the Commissioner's opinion is provided to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and a copy of the report is posted to the Commissioner’s website.

The Commissioner’s report includes details of the Commissioner’s opinion on whether the Member breached the Act. If it is found that there was a breach, the report includes the Commissioner’s recommendation for a penalty. Penalties the Commissioner can recommend are outlined in the Act.

The final decision about the penalty is made by the Legislative Assembly, which can agree with the Commissioner’s recommendation or impose its own penalty.