The Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario today filed its 2013-2014 annual report with the Speaker of the Ontario Legislature.

The report summarizes activity in all of the Office’s mandates, including samples of opinions provided to Members of Provincial Parliament, summaries of disclosure of wrongdoing files handled and updates on the expenses review processes. Integrity Commissioner Lynn Morrison also explains her consultation to explore the role of political staff, and she continues to call for a review of the province’s lobbyists registration legislation.

“I was happy to see the introduction of a bill to amend the Lobbyists Registration Act, but unfortunately that initiative died when the election was called. I will be continuing to push for these changes with the new government.”
 
Among the annual report highlights:
• the Office received 360 inquiries from MPPs regarding members’ integrity issues;
• it handled 133 inquiries from Ministers’ staff regarding ethical conduct, political activity and post-employment obligations;
• the Office concluded work on five disclosure of wrongdoing cases;
• staff reviewed more than 4,400 expense claims; and
• the Lobbyists Registry had 1,863 active registrations as of March 31, 2014.

About the OIC

The Office of the Integrity Commissioner has five key responsibilities: members’ integrity, disclosure of wrongdoing (whistle-blowing), expenses review for Cabinet Ministers, opposition leaders, and 21 of Ontario’s largest agencies, ministers’ staff ethical conduct, and lobbyists registration.

An Officer of the Legislative Assembly, the Integrity Commissioner is independent of government.
The annual report and more information on the Office and its work can be found at www.oico.on.ca.

Ce communiqué est également disponible en français.

Contact:
Cathryn Motherwell, Director
416-314-7811
cathryn.motherwell@oico.on.ca