No wrongdoing has been proven with northern Saskatchewan MP Rob Clarke and a colleague at the centre of a preliminary inquiry by the federal ethics commissioner.
Newfoundland Liberal MP Scott Simms wrote to the commissioner last month to suggest that Clarke and Winnipeg MP Rod Bruinooge, a fellow Tory, violated ethics rules in parliament.
Simms argues the men’s votes in favour of the Fair Elections Act will make an app they developed a more attractive product for political campaigns, according to the Winnipeg Free Press.
The app, known as ProxiVote, is a tool to help political campaigns by organizing information such as which voters support which party, and where volunteers and candidates are campaigning.
The passage of the Fair Elections Act removes a federal ban on the use of mobile devices at polling stations, so theoretically campaign officials can now use ProxiVote on-site.
According to the Free Press, Bruinooge is an officer in the company behind the app, while Clarke has what he calls “a nominal interest” in the company.
Staff for the ethics commissioner told the Free Press that a preliminary inquiry is required as the first step when complaints are received. A more formal inquiry will proceed only if evidence warrants.
An email to Clarke’s office was not immediately returned. Clarke, who was first elected MP of the Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River riding in 2008, makes no mention of the preliminary inquiry on his website.
Bruinooge told the Free Press that he did nothing wrong: “I don’t view my vote as being inappropriate.”
