44th Parl. 1st Sess.

February 15, 2024 10:00AM

Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. John Brassard (Barrie—Innisfil, CPC)

Feb/15/24 2:06:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, I rise today in tribute to former conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Mary Dawson, who passed away on December 24, 2023. Mary Dawson was not just the former ethics commissioner. Her fingerprints are all over very important parts of our history, including the drafting of the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act, the Canada Health Act, the Official Languages Act, the Competition Act, the Customs Act and the Young Offenders Act. She was made a member of the Queen's Counsel in 1978 and became associate chief legislative counsel in the early 1980s. Aside from being the associate deputy minister of justice for nearly two decades, she was particularly proud of her constitutional work, including being the final drafter for the patriation package on the Constitution Act, 1982, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The job of a good conflict of interest and ethics commissioner is to make members of all the parties equally uncomfortable. She did her job well. Mary Dawson was a remarkable person, and Canada has been well served by her contributions. Our condolences go out to her family on the passing of a remarkable Canadian, Mary Dawson.

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House Hansard - 283