The Honourable J. David Wake, Integrity Commissioner, today released his report (MPP Hillier no. 1) into a complaint regarding Randy Hillier, Member of Provincial Parliament for Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston. The report is in response to an affidavit submitted by Ian Arthur, Member of Provincial Parliament for Kingston and the Islands, on September 29, 2022, in which he requested an opinion under section 30 of the Members’ Integrity Act, 1994.

Mr. Arthur alleged that Mr. Hillier breached section 3 of the Act (insider information) and Ontario parliamentary convention in using the personal information of constituents, obtained as a result of their contact with his office, for partisan purposes by sending emails to them on behalf of or related to No More Lockdowns Canada and the People’s Party of Canada (PPC).

During the course of the inquiry the evidence disclosed two further potential breaches of parliamentary convention. Mr. Hillier was placed on notice that they would be included in the inquiry. The first related to Mr. Hillier’s use of his constituency office for a partisan purpose by permitting his daughter to film the announcement of her candidacy for the PPC in the 2021 federal election from that office. The second related to the use of constituency or legislative resources for partisan purposes. Specifically, that staff time and devices provided by the Legislative Assembly were used to send and film partisan messages with respect to the PPC.

Following the inquiry, Commissioner Wake found that Mr. Hillier had not breached section 3 of the Act since no private or pecuniary interest had been engaged but the three breaches of parliamentary convention had been established. He recommended that Mr. Hillier be reprimanded by the Assembly for these breaches of parliamentary convention.

This report is being released simultaneously with another report relating to Mr. Hillier initiated by a complaint from Peggy Sattler, Member of Provincial Parliament for London West. That report relates to whether Mr. Hillier breached Ontario parliamentary convention when he made social media posts that contained the names and photos of individuals who had recently become seriously ill or passed away and included a claim that COVID-19 vaccines were involved in these cases. The news release for that report (identified as MPP Hillier no. 2) is available here.

Both reports can be found at www.oico.on.ca under MPP Integrity, Commissioner’s Reports.

The Commissioner is not available for interviews.

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;
• Lobbyist Registration, operating Ontario’s lobbyist registry and conducting investigations into potential non-compliance;
• Disclosure of Wrongdoing, receiving whistleblowing disclosures from current and former members of the Ontario Public Service;
• Public Sector Ethics, providing conflict of interest advice and direction to Ethics Executives in ministries and public bodies; 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 agencies.

Contact: Michelle Renaud, Manager, Communications and Outreach | michelle.renaud@oico.on.ca |