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A spokeswoman for the commissioner said the need to maintain confidentiality meant she could not comment on advice given to any individual MP.

But there do seem to be wild swings in what constitutes a conflict of interest. This, after all, is the same ethics commissioner who waved through a fundraiser for the Liberal Party that had well-heeled Bay Street lawyers — looking for government outside counsel work — pay $500 a head to meet the justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould.

The fundraiser has the prime minister’s blessing, even though it constitutes a blatant breach of the Liberals’ open and accountable government code.

Perhaps this is because Justin Trudeau has his own history of being the star attraction at private, exclusive, $500-a-ticket meet-and-greet fundraisers, such as the one in Mahone Bay, N.S., in August 2014, or the $1,000-a-plate dinner in Halifax the same month.

But the ethics commissioner has no such excuses. Dawson says there is no contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act, since Section 16 prohibits a public-office holder from personally soliciting funds and, presumably, Wilson-Raybould will not be rattling the begging bowl herself.

That seems to be a very narrow interpretation of the law.