Article content continued

“With respect to the sale of Morneau Shepell Inc. shares in the fall of 2015, I am of the view that you did not benefit from insider information,” writes Dawson, whose seven-year tenure as conflict of interest and ethics commissioner happened to end Monday.

She referred to statements to the media made Nov. 4, 2015, by then-House leader Dominic LeBlanc, who said the tax measures would take effect on Jan. 1, 2016. Dawson also noted that the Liberals’ 2015 election platform had promised to introduce the tax changes.

“This was well in advance of the sale of your Morneau Shepell Inc. shares on Nov. 30, 2015, and the tabling of the Dec. 7, 2015, ways and means motion on this matter.”

The other sales by Morneau’s father, William Morneau Sr., were made Nov. 23 and Dec. 3.

In a separate examination, Dawson also cleared Morneau of allegations that he was involved in the Bank of Canada’s renewal of its contract with Morneau Shepell to manage its employee pension plan. The Bank of Canada renewed its contract with the company for four years in February 2017.

Dawson said she opted to close the matter after reviewing documents provided by the Bank of Canada and comments sent to her by Morneau’s counsel. “I am satisfied that, as minister of finance, you had no involvement in the Bank of Canada’s decision of the renewal of the Morneau Shepell Inc. contract.”

Morneau’s name, however, has yet to be fully cleared by the ethics commissioner’s office, which has another formal examination underway related to his connection to Morneau Shepell.