Ethics committee orders study into Conflict of Interest Act

The House of Commons ethics committee has passed a motion to study the federal Conflict of Interest Act. with a focus on limiting the use of blind trusts and tax havens, and extending the law's standards to party leadership candidates.

Conservative MP Michael Barrett moved the motion during Wednesday's committee meeting. It passed five to four, with all Liberal MPs voting against it.

The move follows a committee briefing from Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, during which Barrett and fellow Conservative MP Michael Cooper questioned him about Prime Minister Mark Carney's blind trust.

Both inquired whether there was sufficient transparency regarding Carney's holdings, and how Carney's chief of staff and Clerk of the Privy Council - both political appoin