Public financial disclosure statements for Ontario’s Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) have been filed today with the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and published on the Office website.
As required by the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994, all MPPs have disclosed their personal assets, liabilities, and other financial information to the Integrity Commissioner.
Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake met with each MPP individually to review their financial disclosure. These meetings are required by the Act and provide a valuable opportunity to discuss conflict of interest issues. During these meetings Commissioner Wake highlighted certain rules under the Act and reminded MPPs about the Office’s guidance regarding social media use.
The Commissioner is required to disclose publicly certain information from each MPP’s private disclosure statement. The statements reflect each MPP’s financial holdings as of September 1, 2023. The statements of the three MPPs elected in by-elections held on July 27 and November 30, 2023, reflect those dates.
Additionally, the Commissioner ensures that each MPP’s holdings comply with the Act, including the requirements of cabinet ministers to either divest or place certain financial assets in a management trust. There are currently six trusts in place.
The public financial statements are available on the office website and can also be viewed in the Office of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.
About the Public Disclosure Statements
MPPs are required under the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994 to provide information about their finances to the Integrity Commissioner every year. They are also required to provide this information for their spouse or partner and any children under 18 years.
Each MPP is required to disclose:
- sources and amounts of income, including pension entitlements;
- descriptions of assets, including investments, properties, ownership of companies; and,
- all liabilities, including mortgages, lines of credit, unpaid taxes, and co-signed loans.
The Office creates a public disclosure statement for each MPP, which provides the nature of certain income, asset and liability sources as required under the Act. Dollar amounts are not included. The statement also lists any gifts worth more than $200 that an MPP accepted during the year.
The Act states that certain assets, liabilities, and sources of income are not to be listed in the public disclosure statement. These include:
- Real property that the MPP uses primarily as a residence or for recreational purposes;
- Investments in open-ended mutual funds that have broadly based investments; and,
- Any other asset, liability, or source of income that the Commissioner approves as an excluded private interest.
About the OIC
The Office has seven mandates under five pieces of legislation:
- Members’ Integrity, providing confidential conflict of interest advice to MPPs and conducting inquiries into alleged breaches;
- Ministers’ Staff Ethical Conduct, providing conflict of interest advice and direction to public servants in ministers’ offices;
- Lobbyists Registration, operating Ontario’s lobbyist registry and conducting investigations into potential non-compliance;
- Public Sector Ethics, providing conflict of interest advice and direction to Ethics Executives in ministries and public bodies;
- Disclosure of Wrongdoing, receiving whistleblowing disclosures from current and former members of the Ontario Public Service; and,
- Expenses Review:
- Reviewing the travel, meal and hospitality expenses of Cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, Opposition leaders, and their staff; and,
- Reviewing the travel, meal, and hospitality expenses of selected provincial agencies.
Contact: Michelle Renaud, Manager, Communications and Outreach | michelle.renaud@oico.on.ca |