Federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson has shelved her investigation into Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff Nigel Wright for the time being, saying she cannot touch the file until the RCMP finish their probe into Senator Mike Duffy.

In an interview with iPolitics after testifying before a parliamentary committee, Dawson said the Conflict of Interest Act prohibits her from investigating a case if police are actively investigating it or if the same subject matter is being investigated.

“I doubt I could get access to Mr. Duffy and he’s a key player in my investigation of Mr. Wright.”

However, Dawson said she has not spoken with the RCMP.

“I have seen the media reports that they are still investigating Duffy on the $90,000 issue,” she said. “That’s what I have and I have no other information that tells me differently.”

Dawson’s comments are in sharp contrast with what her office was telling reporters less than a month ago. At the time, her office said Dawson was “reviewing this matter in order to determine how the Conflict of Interest Act might apply, and is following up with Mr. Wright.”

The investigations by the RCMP and Dawson came after questions were raised about Duffy’s Senate expense accounts and a $90,000 cheque Wright wrote from his personal funds to allow Duffy to repay some of those expenses.

In April, the RCMP told Wright that he would not face charges. However, the force is believed to still be actively investigating Duffy.

Tuesday, Dawson said her investigation into Wright had just started when she had to put it on hold because the RCMP were investigating.

However, Dawson said she and the RCMP look at events through a different lens.

“Just because there is nothing wrong criminally, what I would be looking at is whether there is something wrong under the Conflict of Interest Act, so it is different rules. I still have to have an open field to talk to my witnesses.”

Among the people Dawson said she may want to speak with is Benjamin Perrin, former legal advisor to the prime minister who participated in the discussions that led to Wright writing the cheque for Duffy.

Dawson said her investigation into Bruce Carson, another former advisor to Harper, is also on hold pending the result of the charges that have been laid against him. Her ethics probe into Carson was almost complete when she had to suspend it.

An Ontario Superior Court judge ruled last week that there was enough evidence to send Carson to trial on charges of influence peddling in connection with an Ottawa water filtration company that was trying to secure federal government contracts to provide water purification systems for First Nations communities.

Dawson said she is free to finish off her investigation into whether Carson broke ethics rules by using his former position with the government to profit once the court proceedings are completed.

Testifying before the House ethics committee Dawson said her understanding is that the RCMP’s investigation into Duffy involves the $90,000 cheque.

“Mr. Duffy is being investigated and that $90,000 is involved in the investigation. So, it looks to me like it is the same subject matter and nobody had disabused me of that view, so I think I am required to continue the suspension.”

NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus said he was surprised when Dawson told the committee that the RCMP investigation into the $90,000 was ongoing and is surprised that Dawson hasn’t spoken with the RCMP.

“We are talking about something unprecedented – about a payment made to a sitting senator by the prime minister’s chief of staff to make a political problem go away.”

Angus said he was perplexed by the way everyone is “tiptoeing” around the issue.

“I’m not sure what’s going on here. I just find it odd that a breach of this magnitude seems to be just sitting there and none of the appropriate authorities at this point seem to be interested in following up.”

[email protected]